Every day in SWISS Business, around 2000 amenity kits fly around the world. The aluminium boxes, which we design together with Victorinox, contain high-quality products for the comfort of our guests on board and beyond. However, not every passenger decides to take the amenity kit with them on their journey. Some are left in the aircraft, which we collect after the flight and sort. Around a quarter of all the boxes left behind are still sealed and unopened and will be re-used on the next flight. The rest are broken down into their component parts and sent for recycling. In this way, SWISS ensures that the leftover kits are permanently recyclable and efficiently utilised.

But there are also other reasonable ways to give the boxes a second life than the typical aluminium recycling. To this end, SWISS and Victorinox decided to donate 1300 boxes to Sapocycle this November. The non-profit organisation collects leftover soaps in European hotels, recycling them with the help of people with disabilities and turning them into new soaps. The final product gets distributed to people in need with the aim to give them easier access to hygiene products.

From the flash idea to realisation

That our aluminium boxes were ideal containers for their soaps, Connie Radavero from Sapocycle noticed when she became aware of the boxes that had been left behind after a SWISS flight. It wasn't long until she had made an enquiry to the SWISS product team, where she stumbled upon positive feedback: "Our aim is always to use our materials as ressource-efficiently as possible. The leftover amenity kits are usually recycled, but in my opinion a second use is even more sustainable," explains Melanie Weibel, who is responsible for our SWISS in-flight comfort products and made the donation possible. With this donation, the boxes don't only get re-used, but actually "upcycled" by Sapocycle refilling them with soaps and a conditioner.

It's about more than just hygiene

At the end of November, Melanie was able to join Chantal Dubach from Victorinox, Dorothée Schiesser and Connie Radavero from Sapocycle on site to pass on the former amenity kits to people on the street in Zurich: "I'm really pleased that we can carry out this campaign with Sapocycle. Especially when the end users urgently need the products and we can bring joy to people in need." The distribution was organised by incontro. The organisation has been helping people in need in Zurich for 22 years and regularly distributes meals on the streets, among other things. However, not only food, but also something as seemingly trivial as soap is extremely important for people affected by poverty, as Sister Ariane explains: "A good soap, a fine hair shampoo or shower gel cannot be afforded by a person who lives below the minimum wage or has nothing at all. Smelling good and being liked go hand in hand." The scent of a good soap gives people a sense of self-worth and dignity and also helps to express appreciation and care. Last but not least, hygiene and health are also linked, because being able to wash with a good soap provides existential help – beyond dignity and self-esteem – to stay healthy. All the more so for people who live on the streets under difficult hygienic conditions and in poverty and homelessness, which always leaves you "dirty". 

The women among the recipients were particularly grateful for the kits with soap and conditioner, as "hygiene products are difficult to afford in Switzerland", they professed. Also Melanie's impressions of the distribution were characterised by a lot of emotion and warmth: "People's reactions to the boxes and products were associated with a lot of gratitude, warmth and good conversations, which confirmed to me that such activities are also a good way to give our amenity kits a second life in the future."