Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort has signed up to help save lives in disadvantaged communities, create livelihoods, and shield the environment by joining soap recycling program Soap for Hope.
The 17-hectare five-star resort, which celebrated its grand opening in April last year, has joined forces with hygiene and cleaning solutions company Diversey to participate in ‘Soap for Hope’, an effort that recycles used hotel soaps for distribution to local communities.
Diversey teaches the local people to use a simple cold-press method that requires no electricity or water and takes under 10 minutes to recycle soap into reconstituted bars. The fresh soap is then distributed to communities lacking soap or sanitation.
The local people generate a modest livelihood from the program and, importantly, their communities have free access to soap, that plays a crucial role in preventing life-threatening illnesses through hand-washing.
Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort’s general manager Manuel Ferriol said he and his team were honoured to support Diversey’s program.
“It’s all about playing our part to make Vietnam healthier and cleaner, and the benefits here are three-fold; we help save lives by helping to provide access to soap, we help generate livelihoods for local disadvantaged communities and we lessen our impact on the planet through reducing waste,” said Ferriol.
Since Soap for Hope began in Vietnam in 2015, Diversey estimates 80,000 kilograms of soap waste has been converted into more than 660,000 bars that have been distributed to children in Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Dien Bien, Son La, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City and Hoa Binh.
In 2018, seven Meliá Hotels International properties, including three in Vietnam — Meliá Danang, Meliá Hanoi and Sol Beach Phu Quoc — collected 13.3 tons of soap and produced 110,800 soap bars, benefiting more than 9,800 people (see video here). Meliá Hotels International was recently recognised as the most sustainable hotel company worldwide by the SAM’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment.
Globally, Soap For Hope has been launched in 94 cities and 31 countries together with 380 partner hotels. To-date, 1,401 tons of used soap has been recycled into 11.6 million bars of soap and every year, over 590,000 people in local communities benefit from this program.
“Soap For Hope is a program that engages the local people directly in helping their own community,” said Diversey’s Regional CSR and Sustainability Director Stefan Phang. “At the same time, Diversey is also helping our hotel customers on waste recycling. Through this program, we hope to contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment in Vietnam and create shared value for everyone involved – our company, our customers and the community.”
