LAS VEGAS, Nev.—Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Clean the World, a not-for-profit global hygiene organization, unveiled new manufacturing equipment on June 11 at Clean the World’s Las Vegas facility that will help the organization double its production of recycled soap, helping people in need both domestically and around the globe.
At an event launching the new equipment, the two organizations also announced LVS’ underwriting of 100,000 Clean the World hygiene kits for distribution through the American Red Cross to local and national disaster victims and a mass community effort to build the kits at LVS’ Venetian and Palazzo properties in the coming months. The new soap recycling equipment and disaster relief kit build have been made possible as part of a $1 million corporate partnership between LVS and Clean the World in 2014—the largest corporate donation in Clean the World’s history.
The new machinery will sanitize and recycle enough soap gathered from Las Vegas-area hospitality properties to produce nearly 20,000 three-ounce bars of soap a day. With this equipment build-out, Clean the World will increase its soap production and distribution to more than 6.5 million bars of soap a year.
Since its establishment in 2009, Clean the World’s mission is to collect discarded hygiene products from hospitality companies, including Las Vegas Sands, recycle and sanitize them through an automated process and distribute to those in need around the world. Once delivered, the soap helps reduce the risk and spread of hygiene-related diseases, such as pneumonia, cholera, and dysentery in more than 95 countries, including the United States.
“Today, we helped usher in an exciting expansion of Clean the World’s Las Vegas facility and it will have tremendous impact on the organization’s ability to give a simple bar of soap to people throughout Nevada who don’t have this basic luxury,” said Michael Leven, LVS president and chief operating officer. “Clean the World has been an innovative leader in helping impoverished people, demonstrating how a smart sustainable idea can impact people’s lives.”
LVS team members also participated in the event by building hygiene kits that will go to help vulnerable people served by the Las Vegas Rescue Mission; Shade Tree, which provides shelter and support for women, children and their pets; and Three Square, which is Southern Nevada’s only food bank that provides food assistance in Lincoln, Nye, Esmeralda and Clark counties. In total, Las Vegas LVS team members will build 8,000 hygiene kits for these three organizations as part of the company’s overall commitment to Clean the World.
“Thanks to the valued commitment and partnership from Las Vegas Sands, this new equipment elevates Clean the World’s mission to a higher level and greatly expands our reach,” said Shawn Seipler, founder and executive director of Clean the World. “The soap that leaves our Las Vegas facility will make its way into shelters and other service organizations to provide support for people in need in Las Vegas and as well as to global communities where simple hygiene can mean the difference between life and death.”
LVS has partnered with Clean the World since 2011, successfully diverting more than 50 tons of waste from LVS properties that resulted in more than 550,000 bars of recycled soap. The Clean the World partnership is part of the company’s larger global corporate citizenship program, Sands Cares. Launched in April, the program brings together the company’s corporate social responsibility priorities: supporting people in the company and the hospitality industry, making local communities where LVS operates a better place to live, and reducing environmental impact on the planet.
