Hilton Extends Global Soap Recycling Initiative to Hotels in Japan

Hilton has extended its global soap recycling initiative to all ten of its hotels in Japan.

The program supports the company’s commitment to diverting waste from landfills through reuse, recycling and donations via its global RePurpose program, and enables Hilton Worldwide to make a significant contribution toward combating hygiene-related diseases in underprivileged communities in Asia.

The Japan initiative sees Hilton Worldwide partner with Hong Kong-based Soap Cycling, a soap recycling non-profit organization, and JTB Trading, which sponsors the collection and shipping of the recovered soap to Hong Kong.

Timothy Soper, vice president, operations, Japan, Korea and Micronesia, Hilton Worldwide, said, “We are pleased to extend soap recycling to our hotels in Japan, and to be Soap Cycling’s very first hospitality partner outside of Hong Kong. Our collaboration with JTB Trading also demonstrates how impact can be amplified with like-minded partners. This initiative reinforces our efforts to reduce waste output and strengthen communities – two core pillars of our global corporate responsibility strategy, Travel with Purpose. Through this commitment, we aim to increase environmental awareness and personal ownership among our stakeholders, and enable our guests to make sustainable choices when they travel.”

Soap Cycling thoroughly sanitizes, processes and molds the soap into new bars, and then works with a network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to distribute the soap to underprivileged populations in Asia.

Hilton Worldwide’s 1,000-strong housekeeping team in Japan has already collected 2.3 tons of soap from its more than 5,300 hotel rooms across the country since starting the initiative in October 2013. This contributed 20,000 new bars of soap, some of which were directed towards disaster-stricken communities affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

David Bishop, founder and chairman of Soap Cycling, said, “Soap is a truly life-saving item. Research shows that simple hand washing in homes, hospitals, schools and elsewhere can save 900,000 lives annually by preventing hygiene-related diseases. Soap Cycling truly values the generous support from both Hilton Worldwide and JTB Trading.”

The hotels in Japan participating in the soap recycling program are:

Conrad Tokyo
DoubleTree by Hilton Naha
Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk
Hilton Nagoya
Hilton Niseko Village
Hilton Odawara
Hilton Osaka
Hilton Tokyo
Hilton Tokyo Bay
Hilton Tokyo Narita Airport

Globally, Hilton Worldwide partnered with the US-based Global Soap Project (GSP) in 2011. Since then, well over 120 tons of soap have been recovered from some 700 Hilton Worldwide hotels and donated to GSP and other recycling organizations, creating more than one million new bars of soap for underprivileged communities.

Hilton Worldwide is one of the first major multi-brand hospitality companies to make sustainability measurement a brand standard and to require performance against sustainability goals. Through its proprietary LightStay system, the company registered cumulative utility cost savings of US$253 million from 2009-2012, through a 12.8% reduction of carbon output, a 12.2% reduction in energy use, a 24.9% reduction of waste input and a 10.2% reduction in water use.