How a Melbourne recycling program is using old hotel soap to solve a global health problem

Sun, 10 Dec 2023 19:31:38 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-09/used-hotel-soap-recycling-program-melbourne/103074122>

'What looks like a potato peeler whizzes across a tiny cube of soap, removing
the outer layer, before it's lobbed into a pile.

"We clean them, literally and manually of any hair, any packaging, any foreign
body," Mike Matulick, the founder of not-for-profit organisation Soap Aid,
says.

"There are literally millions of bars of soap going to landfill globally. The
problem is high-scale."

Mr Matulick has spent 20 years in the hotel supply sector and has seen the
waste.

"I travel a lot. I was one of those people that left the waste bar of soap in
my hotel room," he says.

"Seeing the volume that my business supplied going to landfill, I really felt
compelled to do something, realising that I was part of the problem."

And it's not just a waste issue, it's a global health problem.

While soap is abundant in hotels, globally, there's a dire shortage.

According to the World Health Organization, 2.3 billion people lack access to
basic hygiene services, including soap and water at home, and poor hand hygiene
results in 297,000 deaths a year.

"There's a critical need. A humanitarian need," Mr Matulick says.'

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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