The London Heathrow Marriott has announced plans to start recycling discarded soap after teaming up with social enterprise Clean The World.
The partnership, the first of its kind in Europe, will see soap discarded by the hotel’s guests repurposed in hygiene kits that are distributed to impoverished communities around the world.

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“Hundreds of people fly in and out of Heathrow Airport every day and as a result we see hundreds of leisure and business guests come through our doors,” said Ron Vos, general manager at London Heathrow Marriott Hotel, in a statement. “If you think about the amount of soap that’s discarded by each of these guests and then consider all the people in the world that may not have the luxury of hygiene products, it seems absurd to let it all go to waste.”
Shawn Seipler, Clean The World’s founder and CEO, welcomed the new partnership and urged more European hotels to embrace the recycling model.
“Since 2009, Clean The World has distributed more than one million hygiene kits in the United States, Canada, and Asia, while diverting 3,600 metric tons of waste from landfills,” he said. “European hotels have a strong sustainability focus and are looking for new ways to embrace corporate social responsibility. This expansion is significant for us, and we couldn’t ask for a better launch partner than the London Heathrow Marriott and Marriott International.”
While the London Heathrow Marriott claims to be the first hotel in Europe to offer soap recycling under the Clean the World partnership, similar initiatives have been trialled by hotels in the US and Europe for some time.
Back in 2011, Hilton announced it was teaming up with the Global Soap Project to introduce a similar recycling programme.
Source: Recycling BG