Recycling programs have long been part and parcel of any worthwhile sustainability effort, but with a variety of new product solutions and strategies now available to hoteliers, the potential benefits of recycling have never been greater.
Cutting-edge eco-friendly solutions also continue to drive change throughout the sustainability landscape, shifting the overall climate for green efforts and adding a bottom-line component as well.
Joe Bojanowski, president, PM Hotel Group, a Chevy Chase, Maryland-based owner/operator—which just released its sixth annual sustainability report—highlighted the evolution of sustainability efforts within lodging. “It’s actually driving profit margins now,” he said.
Bojanowski continued, “There was never a direct relationship between an action that you took and some benefit to the P&L, whether it be top line or bottom line. There was a very indirect relationship between commercial performance and expense savings. Now the relationship is very direct.”
Mike Shutts, VP, engineering, security and sustainability, CoralTree Hospitality, a Denver-based owner/operator, underscored that relationship, touting the company’s investment in equipment such as biodigesters from BioGreen. A biodigester is a system that biologically digests organic material, either anaerobically or aerobically. Most food, including fat and greases, can be processed in a biodigester.
“In our efforts to do recycling or just even overall trash removal, using a biodigester ends up being a great technology. Essentially what they do is they take any of that food waste that we pull off of tables or out of the cafeteria and they convert that into either water or dirt,” he said, further adding that dirt can be given to local farmers.
From an investment perspective, he described the biodigester as “scalable,” also pointing out that it can eliminate the need to purchase ozone generators or other costly equipment to control odors.
“The return on investment may not be as attractive as everybody wants to see, but everybody becomes all too familiar with the smell of trash on a 90-degree day in a heavily used property and how big of an issue that is,” he said.
Another critical area of focus for CoralTree has been getting rid of plastics. He specifically cited the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California—which is managed by CoralTree Hospitality—and its commitment to getting rid of all plastics at the property and switch to aluminum within 30 to 60 days.
“So many properties have tried to figure out ways of getting rid of plastic. I know Pepsi and a lot of the other large corporations are trying to come out with a vessel that’s not plastic,” he said, adding that “PATH Water, as an example, does that.”
Meanwhile, the Parkside Hotel & Spa is a 126-suite hotel in downtown Victoria, BC, which opened in 2009. Designed and built to LEED Platinum Building Standards, the hotel achieved carbon neutrality in 2019.
Trina White, general manager, touted a comprehensive compost system, which is in all of its guestrooms, as key to helping move the needle for the property.
“We used to have a compost inside a little cupboard, and so we decided to buy a really beautiful, nice stainless steel $100 compost [receptacle] and have it on the counter. Just shifting it from in the cupboard where it was hidden to on the counter, now the use of it has gone up significantly. It’s those types of systems that make a big difference,” she said.
White also maintained that how the hotel approaches purchasing can have a major impact on its carbon footprint.
“It’s being very, very mindful of the type of amenities we put into rooms. What is the packaging for it? Can it be paper or can it be biodegradable? Does it even need packaging?” she noted, adding the hotel recently switched to a new detergent that comes in a large barrel size.
Of course, water conservation is another area of focus for the property. White pointed out the property utilizes low-flow toilets and frequently checks shower heads and other fixtures for leaks. She emphasized that water recycling is part of the effort as well, as the hotel has a large Grey Water tank.
“We’re capturing the rain that hits the building, and we use that to do our own garden irrigation year-round, so that saves us a ton of money,” said White.
