Press Release
United customers help Clean the World

Hand sanitizer, facial cleanser, toothpaste — while customers love these items from United's premium cabin amenity kits, sometimes they leave them behind without using them. Now, United will be able to donate the discarded items to those in need around the globe through a partnership with Clean the World.

Once the discarded hygiene products are collected, the innovative non-profit organization refurbishes and distributes them to those in need, leading to the prevention of millions of hygiene-related deaths each year, and a reduced morbidity rate for hygiene-related illnesses, while also reducing environmental waste.

Clean the World works with thousands of hotels around the globe, but United is the first airline to partner with the organization. "We are excited to partner with United and eager to include the airline's amenity kit items among the gifts of good health our hygiene kits provide to children and their families around the world," said Shawn Seipler, Clean the World founder and executive director.

United will begin collecting unused amenity kit items from their hub airports for distribution to Clean the World facilities later this spring, and expects to divert more than 60,000 pounds of material that otherwise would go to landfills within the first year of the program. After Clean the World collects and recycles the materials, United employees will gather to assemble thousands of new kits — which will include soaps, shampoos and other hygiene products — for distribution.

"Being a responsible and sustainable airline means more than investing in products and services that reduce our impact on the environment," said Maria Walter, United's managing director of product development and brand management. "It means working directly with our employees and partners to improve the lifecycle of those products and the communities we serve."