A partnership between Woollahra Group and Sodexo is improving access to good hygiene in remote Pilbara communities.
EXCESS soap from Pilbara mine camps is being recycled and delivered to Aboriginal communities free of charge through a distribution deal with an Indigenous hygiene-products company.
Perth-based Woollahra Group started working with mine camp operator Sodexo Australia earlier this year, collecting soap from the latter’s sites and transporting it to not-for-profit organisation Soap Aid, where it is reprocessed into fresh bars.
That soap is donated to organisations such as Curtin University’s #endingtrachoma, a project aiming to improve access to hygiene products and washing facilities in more than 40 remote communities.
The project’s primary objective is to combat the bacterial skin and eye disease trachoma.
About 23 Pilbara camps are participating in the program where, collectively, more than 4,500 kilograms of excess soap has been recycled into 46,000 new bars in 2026.
Woollahra Group chief executive Sam Smith said the project would also help to eliminate soap waste from the mining industry.
“The Camp to Community initiative is delivering life-changing outcomes and we are so proud of the results we are achieving together,” he said.
A first delivery under the program was made in May to communities where transport and financial barriers could hamper access to basic products.
Trachoma prevalence among Indigenous children has fallen from 14 per cent to under 2 per cent in the 15 years to 2023, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
While on track to eradicate the infection, Australia is the only wealthy nation where it remains endemic, according to the Australian Centre for Disease Control.
At the more serious scale, poor hygiene can lead to rheumatic heart disease and kidney disease, both health issues where Indigenous people are over-represented.
Soap Aid operations general manager Carol Bellew said demand for the service was booming.
“We know that when times are tough, one of the first things to be cut from shopping lists is personal hygiene products, like soap,” she said.
“Over the past 18 months, community requests for soap have risen from 30 organisations to 140.
“Our partnership with Sodexo and Woollahra Group has truly transformed what is possible.”
The Pilbara trial is the start of what could become a national program.
Sodexo operates more than 100 sites across Australia servicing 25,000 fly-in, fly-out workers, according to company data.
Sodexo Australia tech, partnerships and services senior director Adrian Lorenzin said the project showed how recycling could create positive impact.
“By collecting and recycling a simple product like excess soap from our remote villages, this program is helping to deliver essential hygiene products and education to vulnerable communities while also reducing product waste that would otherwise go to landfill,” Mr Lorenzin said.
Curtin University Public Health Advocacy Institute senior research fellow Melissa Stoneham said a holistic service was built around the soap deliveries.
“In addition to providing emergency plumbing fixes, we also yarn with tenants about the importance of hygiene,” she said.
“To support this message, we place soap in the bathroom, laundry and kitchen as a behaviour prompt for families, making it easier for them to wash their hands and face.”
The collection program expanded to Queensland and South Australian camps in May.
