March 7, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Diversey, a Solenis company, worked with Dow and Pebbles Project to launch a Soap For Hope program in Cape Town, South Africa.
WILMINGTON, Del. (USA) — Diversey, a Solenis company, Dow (NYSE: DOW) and Pebbles Project today launched the Soap For Hope™ program in Cape Town, South Africa. This initiative was one of the seven identified by Dow within its Business Impact Fund. The annual fund brings together nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), nonprofit organizations and Dow customers to help solve global issues using Dow technology and employees’ expertise.
The Soap For Hope program, initiated by Diversey in 2013, has expanded to more than 50 countries globally. Through the recycling of discarded hotel guest soap, this program not only supports local communities by offering livelihood opportunities but also contributes to mitigating infant mortality rates associated with insufficient access to proper sanitation conditions.
Through its extensive network of local farm operations, the South African NGO Pebbles Project launched the Soap For Hope program in Cape Town with these goals:
- Divert 10,000 kg of soap bar waste annually away from landfill and incineration toward recycling.
- Distribute recycled soap bars in underprivileged communities and provide training on sanitation best practices.
- Train and empower young adults to manage the recycling operation as a small business.
“As a materials science company and supplier of raw materials that serve the cleaning market, Dow is proud to be a key collaborator with Soap For Hope in South Africa that enables sustainable cleaning solutions while helping the local communities,” said Kevin Pillay, Dow’s Country Leader Southern Africa.
“Soap For Hope is a program that directly engages the local people in helping their own community. At the same time, it helps our hotel customers with diverting tons of solid soap waste from the local landfill. This will contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment in South Africa and create shared value for everyone involved — our company, our customers, and our communities,” said Mariette Van Vuuren, Sales Director South Africa, Diversey, a Solenis Company.
Sophia Warner, Founder and CEO, Pebbles Project, stated: “The recycled soap will be made available to communities that do not have access to proper hygiene tools today. We will train unemployed young adults and women on entrepreneurship to upskill and empower them to run the recycling project as a small business.”
“Premier Hotels & Resorts is pleased to partner with Diversey, Dow and The Pebbles Project on the Soap For Hope initiative,” said Richard Bray, Group Operations Manager at Premier Hotels & Resorts. “Recycling and green initiatives, along with building the communities in which we operate, are extremely important to us. We are proud to join the Soap For Hope project and look forward to helping this program take flight in making a difference in the local community.”
About Diversey
Diversey, a Solenis company, provides cleaning, hygiene and infection prevention solutions for the hospitality, food service, healthcare, beverage, and processed food and dairy markets. These solutions, which include advanced chemicals, digital technologies and value-added services, enable customers to build a cleaner, safer and more sustainable world.
About Solenis
Solenis is a leading global producer of specialty chemicals focused on delivering sustainable solutions for water-intensive industries, including pulp and paper, institutional, industrial, food and beverage, and pool and spa water markets. The company’s product portfolio includes a broad array of water treatment chemistries, process aids, functional additives, cleaners, disinfectants, and state-of-the-art monitoring, control and delivery systems. These technologies are used by customers to improve operational efficiencies, enhance product quality, protect plant assets, minimize environmental impact, and create cleaner and safer environments. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, the company has 70 manufacturing facilities strategically located around the globe and employs a team of over 16,500 professionals in 130 countries across six continents. Solenis is a 2024 Best Managed Company Gold Standard honoree.
For additional information about Solenis, please visit www.solenis.com or follow us on social media.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) is one of the world’s leading materials science companies, serving customers in high-growth markets such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Our global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation, leading business positions and commitment to sustainability enable us to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. We operate manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employ approximately 35,900 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $45 billion in 2023. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. Learn more about us and our ambition to be the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world by visiting www.dow.com.
About Pebbles Project
The Pebbles Project enables children from farming communities to access quality education programmes and health, nutrition and social work services. Since its inception in 2004, Pebbles has positively impacted the lives of thousands of children by partnering with local farms to establish and manage Early Childhood Development and After-School Clubs for farm workers children who either live on the farm or their parents are employed by the farm. Through these education centres, Pebbles is able to render support programmes and services to the children and wider community. The organisation’s areas of operation include Stellenbosch, Somerset West, Wellington, Citrusdal, Clanwilliam, Grabouw and the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley in Hermanus.
For more information, please visit www.pebblesproject.org.