For the soaps, it's the cold shower. When they are not taken on board by thrifty customers, used hotel soaps are one of those disposable items that end up in the garbage. 51 million would be thrown away every year in France, says the Unisoap association, which has decided to put an end to their tragic and not very eco-responsible destiny. In partnership with a hundred hotel establishments, it collects and recycles these hygiene products, which are generally barely started.
“With us, the length of stay is on average 1.8 days. So the soaps that are made available in the bathrooms are only used three or four times maximum, ”reports Maxime Ottogalli, director of the Hotel Platine in Paris, one of the partners of Unisoap. The establishment has only 46 rooms and their small round soaps weigh only 25 grams. However, the manager assures that the household staff collect nearly 60 kg used after four to five months. “We store them in a bin provided for this purpose and when we exceed 30 kg, we call the association. "
Facelift
A transporter picks up the precious booty and then transports it to the Lyon region in an establishment and work assistance service (Esat) which employs young people aged 18 to 25 with disabilities. This is where the soaps will get a facelift before starting a new life. “They are weighed, then dry-cleaned by hand to remove all the residue. The top layer is completely removed, ”says Pauline Grumel, director of Unisoap. Long and tedious work, but necessary for hygiene reasons.
The soaps are then ground, mixed and compacted by the association's machines. "We can completely mix them, even if they are not the same, says Pauline Grumel, who surrounded herself with engineers and experts in cosmetics to carry out the project. The only thing that changes are the fragrances, so we tested to know which soaps to mix with each other so that they have a pleasant fragrance. The whole is then molded, cut and stamped with the Unisoap logo.
Five tonnes already harvested
The result: 100-gram rectangular buns that will be distributed to associations that help disadvantaged people in France and ultimately around the world. "There are 2.2 million children who die every year worldwide due to diseases linked to poor hygiene," deplores Pauline Grumel. Created in 2017, Unisoap has collected nearly five tonnes of soap and is now ready to launch the machine. The first recycled soaps will be distributed in the spring.
The initiative also seems to interest more and more hotel establishments to be partners and patrons. "Between the slippers, the shower gels or the body milks, there is so much mess with hotel products, that the sector, faced with a clientele more and more sensitive to this kind of things, is slowly starting to evolve" , says Maxime Ottogalli. Soon the wasters will take a hell of a soap.
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