Hospitality ON Event - Awards

Worldwide Hospitality Awards

Thursday 09 November 2023 à 18:00

Finaliste - Best Initiative in Sustainable Development

Manotel

Campaign - Youth for Soap, an initiative for Manotel soap recycling

Cette candidature n'est disponible qu'en anglais / This application is only available in English.

Youth for Soap is a unique and innovative initiative to recycle used soap from Manotel, the Geneva-based hotel chain.

The Manotel Hotel Group, the Fondation Ensemble and the Espace Entreprise are launching a unique initiative to recycle used soap from the Geneva-based hotel chain. While Commercial Business trainees are in charge of the logistical side of the project, the soap recycling is done by people living with intellectual disabilities. It should enable the recycling of up to one tonne of soap per year.

The initiative aims to collect used soaps from the hotel chain’s six establishments and recycle them with a view to redistributing them free of charge to humanitarian associations. Entirely not-for-profit, Youth for Soap brings together many partners from different areas - schools, businesses and social organizations - around the common goal of sustainable development.

Launched in 2015 on the side-lines of a meeting between Caroline Boesch Marketing Director at Manotel and Laurence Fabry Lorenzini from Espace Entreprise, the project needed a third partner. Very quickly convinced, the leaders of Fondation Ensemble saw the opportunity to offer its beneficiaries an activity allowing them to develop new skills.

The manufacturing process, made possible thanks to Manotel Group having purchased a specialized machine, was set up with the help of the Chemistry department at the University of Applied Sciences in Engineering and Architecture (HEIA) in Fribourg. Amicolab SA - a private and accredited laboratory specialized in microbiological analyses and hygiene consulting - carries out analyses free of charge, certifying the soaps’ quality. The soaps are also transported in an environmentally friendly way thanks to the bike deliverymen from the ‘Caddie Service’ association.

"We are delighted to be able to provide a practical solution for the management of our used soaps," says Caroline Boesch, Marketing Director for the Manotel Group. "What’s more, this partnership touches on many areas of sustainable development and social responsibility, with environmental, humanitarian and social benefits," she adds. "The training of young people is one of the peculiarities of this project" explains Laurence Fabry Lorenzini, trainer at Espace Entreprise.

"From the very beginning, some hundred young Commercial Business trainees built the concept without ever becoming discouraged, joining forces with HEIA Chemistry students, trainees in Graphic Design, hotel housekeeping staff and people living with intellectual disabilities... A unique opportunity to bring worlds together that don’t often intersect, and to educate all participants on environmental and social issues."

"This is an ideal opportunity to underscore the values we defend," explains Véronique Auguste, Director of Fondation Ensemble. "Beyond bringing out the potential in people living with intellectual disabilities, Youth for Soap combines the key commitments of a training centre and a local economic player in terms of workforce inclusion of those living with disabilities.”

The first soaps were delivered on May 17, 2018 at Point d'Eau, a sanitary services centre run by the association ‘Carrefour-Rue’. Other organisations will soon be able to enjoy the soaps thanks to the food bank ‘Partage’. The partners are now examining the possibility of producing laundry detergent which could also be offered to those in need. To present the initiative, the Commercial Business trainees created a website: www.youthforsoap.ch.

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