Everyone who has ever stayed in a hotel has used small bars of hotel soap. However, few people used it to the end. Few people wonder what happens to such a partially used cube. Obviously, for hygiene reasons, each customer receives fresh, sanitized soap. Those that have already been opened are treated as waste. However, this does not mean that it should be discarded.
There are already many organizations around the world working to recover and recycle soap. The Resoap project has been operating in Poland since November 2021. The person behind this idea is Jaroslaw Kidron from Krakow, who combines soap recycling with full-time work at a company working in the chemical industry. His interest in the subject, which began with a conversation with a colleague, has turned into a task to which he devotes almost all of his free time.
A soapy path through agony
When Jaroslav Kidron started looking for a way to recycle soap, he first thought of converting the bars into liquid form. – It was 90% successful. However, it lacked some important features, primarily the right consistency, says the entrepreneur in an interview with Business Insider Polska. — I decided to start from scratch and make soap bars. It took me about a year to develop the whole process, he adds.
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Soap restoration project
In order for the soap recycling process to go beyond the laboratory stage, a processing line was needed. Kędroń built the processing machines himself, with the support of friends who were expert mechanics. Once he knew that it was possible to process used soap into new, high-quality bars, he began looking for cooperation partners. The first to agree was Beata Piocek, manager of the Marriott Hotel in Sopot, who saw value in the Krakow businessman's idea. The first bars bearing the Resoap Project logo were created from donated soap.
On the path from chemical experiments to well-functioning businesses, the most difficult cases were the formal ones. The Resoap project deals with waste processing. Therefore, in order to officially start a business under the appropriate PKD code, the entrepreneur had to meet a number of requirements. – It was a painful journey. He admits, I waited almost two years to get a positive opinion from the sanitary and epidemiological station and all the permits.
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He received official permission to work in July 2020, amid the pandemic. It's been a difficult time for hoteliers, which is why the Resoap project only took off in earnest in 2022. The Sheraton Grand Warsaw Hotel was one of the first to join. Angela Saliba, who managed the project, was another kindred spirit in developing the project.
In July, Jaroslav Kidron posted a short summary on Facebook.
The company currently cooperates with 12 hotels. These are Sheraton Grand Warsaw, Sheraton Grand Krakow, Sheraton Sopot Hotel, Sheraton Poznan Hotel, Four Points by Sheraton Warsaw Mokotow, Sopot Marriott Resort & Spa, AC by Marriott Wroclaw, Hotel Bristol Warsaw, The Westin Warsaw and Sopotel Grand Sopot. Last week, Nobu Warsaw and Sofitel Victoria Warsaw joined forces.
1.8 thousand cubes of waste
Hotel staff collect soap from rooms. About once a month, an Opel Corsa with Krakow number plates arrives at the hotel and transports “selectively collected waste” to the building where The soap is first dried and then cleaned mechanically by removing the top layer of dirt. In the second stage, the surface of the cubes is disinfected, then they are crushed, and the next stage of disinfection is completed. Finally, the mass is formed into blocks under the influence of temperature and pressure. It is a guillotine cut into small pieces and stamped with the Resoap Project logo. In the first half of this year, Jaroslav Kidron processed 650.6 kg of waste from nine Marriott hotels, i.e. approximately 33,000 hotels. Soap bars.
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Not only do hotels donate soap, they also pay the Resoap Project for waste collection and management service. Thanks to this, the entrepreneur can finance the entire project – Includes paying utility bills (recycling machines consume a lot of energy), covering waste transportation costs, or purchasing disinfectants needed in the recycling process. Jarosław Kędroń himself works for charity and does not receive any financial benefits from the initiative.
— I treat Resoap project activities as a task. This is my way of helping others, which may also become a way of life in the future. In order to be able to think about further developing the company, it is necessary that many hotels join the program. For example, in France, 350 hotels recycle soap, while in Poland there are 12 hotels, he explains.
— In the month of June alone, we collected 178.5 kg of waste, and from each kg we produced 10 bars of soap, each weighing 95 grams. So the total will be more than 1.8 thousand. cubes in a month. Now imagine that you bought 1.8 thousand PLN in a store. pieces of soap and then throw them in the trash. “This shows what we really do,” says the businessman.
Previously, partially used soap was simply thrown away from hotels.
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Soap restoration project
Soap from Poland in Cameroon
For hotels, cooperation with Resoap is an element of sustainable development policy and pro-environmental activities. Processing soap waste allows you to reduce carbon dioxide emissions resulting from its combustion and reduce the energy consumption required for its disposal. The recovered items are packed into collective boxes and delivered to humanitarian and charitable organizations who further distribute the soap. Soaps bearing the Resoap Project logo are supplied, among other things, to orphanages in Poland, serving refugees from Ukraine and those in need in developing countries. Through the organization Redemptoris Missio from Poznań, we received, among others: To Cameroon. Hotels participating in the initiative can boast a certificate issued by Resoap.
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— When I entered the phrase “soap recycling” into the search engine and found the company Clean The World, my process was already complete chemically and technically, – says Jaroslav Kidron. — Americans inspired me to cooperate with organizations that provide aid in developing countries. Initially, I thought of helping locally, and I started from Krakow, where I live – adds the businessman.
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Soap restoration project
Until recently, the entire soap sourcing and recycling process was supervised by Jarosław Kędroń. “I would often spend entire Saturdays and Sundays at the soap shop, as I call it,” he admits. -I have two daughters, 7 and 8 years old. This would not have been possible if my wife had not made sure I had free time,” adds Kędroń.
As the project has grown, he recently hired two collaborators — one to help market the project and the other with the production process. The businessman plans to start cooperation with Marriott International hotels in the Central and Eastern European region. — Meeting the necessary legal requirements and obtaining permission to ship waste across borders will be a major challenge. Soap itself is not a hazardous waste, but in order to import it into Poland, you must follow the same procedure as with many other wastes. Jaroslav Kidron admits that we still have a long way to go.
Meanwhile, the businessman is fully confident in his project and hopes to go to European countries to collect used soap next year. It is therefore very possible that before the Resoap project grows in Poland, the initiative will develop abroad.
Author: Anna Anagnostopoulou, journalist at Business Insider Polska
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