When we started calling our mission the “global hygiene revolution” a few years ago, it referred to Clean the World’s goal of providing hygiene products and education all around the world. Now “global” also refers to the ever-growing footprint of hotel partners contributing soap and bottled amenities.

Clean the World Asia really came into its own in 2014. Our fully equipped recycling operations center in Hong Kong recycles soap from hotels in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, and Taipei, Taiwan. After a soft launch in 2013 with a few select partners, Clean the World Asia added 14 new hotels last year. We now collect from 20,000 rooms in the region, with partners including Disenyland Resort, Peninsula Hong Kong, MGM Macau, and Galaxy Entertainment Group.

Jolene Han is the managing director of our Asia operation. She and her team implemented recycling programs and provided housekeeper training at all 14 new partners last year. They collected more than 30 tons of used soap and manufactured 150,000 recycled soap bars.

Outbound donations included more than 40,000 bars of recycled soap and 5,000 ONE Project hygiene kits in Hong Kong and Macau. Clean the World Asia also donated 45,000 bars of recycled soap and 15,000 hygiene kits in the Philippines.

Through a new volunteer program, students have helped process more than 4,000 pounds of soap.

Impressively, all the processing and recycling for Clean the World Asia takes place in a relatively small space compared to our facilities in the United States. The Orlando and Las Vegas operations centers are located in urban areas. However, neither city has the population density of Hong Kong, where high-rise industrial and warehouse spaces are the norm.

Our of necessity, the Hong Kong team operates extremely efficiently and makes careful use of every square foot available. They have a great system in place and are well positioned for additional growth this year.