Atrium Hospitality announces partnership with Clean the World

Companywide initiative projected to provide more than 575,000 potentially life-saving bars of soap annually to children and families in need

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. March 16, 2017

Discarded soap and plastic amenity bottles left behind by guests at Atrium Hospitality properties will now have a second life helping to fight the spread of preventable diseases. Thanks to Atrium's new partnership with Clean the World , these discarded items will be shipped to a Clean the World Recycling Center, sanitized and repurposed into life-saving hygiene products, and distributed to children and families in need around the globe.

To generate excitement and spur participation, Atrium Hospitality has issued a companywide challenge to all of its 49 properties to see which hotel can collect the most weight in leftover amenities and soap per room, per year. With a total of almost 12,500 rooms in its portfolio, the Georgia-based hotel and asset management company projects an annual impact of 188,444 pounds of total waste and 107,927 pounds of soap collected annually, producing an estimated 575,611 recycled bars of soap.

Clean the World's simple mission is to recycle hotel soap and save lives. The organization has partnered with more than 4,000 hotels and resorts to date.

“Atrium Hospitality has a long-standing commitment to responsible management and sustainability, says Daniel Abernethy, president. “It is an essential part of our corporate culture, and one that we believe creates long-term value for our customers, associates and owners. We are excited to add the partnership with Clean the World to our recycling and energy-reduction strategies, particularly given the program's proven impact on hygiene and quality of life in underprivileged communities worldwide.”

According to Clean the World, about two million children under the age of five die every year due to hygiene-related illnesses. Hand washing with soap is a low-cost intervention that can reduce those deaths by almost 50 percent. Since 2009, Clean the World has distributed more than 34 million bars of soap in 100 countries.

"Sustainability is a major focus for hotels," said Shawn Seipler, CEO and co-founder of Clean the World. "We estimate the North American lodging industry throws away more than a million bars of soap each day. By recycling soap and bottled amenities, Atrium Hospitality is having a positive effect from both an environmental and humanitarian perspective."

About Atrium Hospitality Atrium Hospitality is a leading hotel and asset management company, headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., overseeing a portfolio of hotels licensed primarily through the Marriott, Hilton, and Intercontinental brand families. In addition, Atrium Hospitality provides asset management and accounting services to a number of other hotel debt and equity investments held by the company's ownership groups. With a best-in-class executive team, Atrium strives to maximize the financial performance and value of every property and investment, provide a positive experience to every guest and associate, and bring to life a culture that promotes the four core values of Perseverance, Respect, Service, and Teamwork.

About Clean the World Clean the World is a social enterprise dedicated to the mission of saving millions of lives around the world while simultaneously diverting hotel waste from landfills. Clean the World operates soap recycling centers in Orlando, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong, and leads a “Global Hygiene Revolution” to distribute recycled soap and hygiene products from more than 4,000 hotel and resort partners to children and families in countries with a high pre-adolescent death rate due to acute respiratory infection (pneumonia) and diarrheal diseases (cholera) - which are two of the top killers of children under the age of five. Since 2009, more than 34 million bars of Clean the World soap have been distributed in 100 countries. Through its Hygiene Kit Program, Clean the World provides hygiene kits to relief organizations throughout North America. More information: http://www.cleantheworld.org