Soap bar recycling
Waste
- Solution type
- Service
- Theme
- Waste
SapoCycle collects used soaps from hotels and recycles them into new bars of soap distributed to families in need. Carried out in Alsace by workers with disabilities (ADAPEI), this process reduces CO₂ emissions linked to the treatment of this waste by 90%. A fully circular economy solution: less waste, more social inclusion and better hygiene for those who need it most.
- Sector:
- France
Its features
Origin & logistics
Collection of used soaps in European hotels. In France, establishments send their stocks directly to the partner workshops.
Packaging & conditioning
The soaps are collected using dedicated collection systems provided to the hotels, then turned into new bars of soap through a rigorous process (grating, grinding into powder and moulding).
Certifications
The reprocessing is carried out under strict bacteriological control, guaranteeing a safe and hygienic finished product.
Resource management
90% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared with waste incineration (FHNW study). The programme avoids sending millions of soaps to landfill and preserves the resources needed to make new soap.
Composition & recycling
The product itself comes 100% from recycling. Used soaps are purified and restructured to become an essential resource once again.
Type of recovery
Material recycling and humanitarian reuse. Waste becomes a public-health prevention tool capable of reducing infections by 40%.
Reuse & upcycling
Transformation of a “single-use” product (hotel soap) into a lasting health product.
Integration & diversity
Recycling is entrusted exclusively to people with disabilities through partners such as ADAPEI Papillons Blancs (Alsace) and Wohnwerk (Basel). This gives them a stable and rewarding working environment.
Social accessibility
Direct humanitarian action. The soaps are distributed free of charge to families in need in Europe and in developing countries to fight preventable diseases (diarrhoea, pneumonia).
Life cycle of this solution
Step 1: The committed consumer
Sorts soap bars that have not been fully used into the Coccibox.
Take this placeStep 2: The collector
Collects the Coccibox of soap bars during its product delivery rounds.
Step 3: The recovery operator
Recycles leftover soap bars to make new soaps that will be donated.
Member map
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Selected members (2)
- LE RESEAU COCCIVolgelsheim
- ASSOCIATION SAPOCYCLE FRANCEMulhouse