Diversey, Dow and Pebbles Project Partner To Promote Sustainable Sanitation in South Africa

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.”