Waste Management

Towards zero-waste

Waste is an issue of increasing importance in the hospitality industry. Express Hospitality explores how environmental issues are driving the industry towards more sustainable management of solid and liquid waste

While the winds of change have been sweeping through the Indian hospitality industry on one side, there has been an increase in environmental degradation on the other. But heightened environmental awareness amongst consumers and increasing media coverage are persuading the industry to seriously review environmental issues and institute sustainable practices as part of their operations.

Waste management - solid and liquid - is key to assuaging these concerns. But to what extent? According to the Indian Hotel Industry Survey 2004-2005 conducted by The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations (FHRAI) and HVS International, solid waste production is the least monitored environmental issue with the all India average at 30.7 per cent. While the breakdown for five-star deluxe and four-star hotels is not available, this category is believed to monitor environmental issues more closely. This brings us to an uncomfortable conclusion that in most cases, waste is neither an area of concern, nor a segment of focus for a majority of players in the industry, though a small percentile is taking cognisance of it.

Today eco-tourism that is nature-oriented and environmentally focused is growing rapidly. This represents a growing market for environmentally-friendly options in the tourism industry. Many in the hotel industry have recognised the negative impact their business activities have on the environment and have taken action to alleviate those impacts. A few leading hotels today are striving to become zero-waste brands, which does not necessarily mean the elimination of all by-products. It means using resources efficiently, using renewable resources, and when generation of by-products is unavoidable, using those by-products as raw material for other processes. The biological by-products of hotel activities should be able to be safely assimilated into natural systems, thus highlighting the need of solid and liquid waste management techniques.

Solid waste

Implementing a solid waste reduction programme in a hotel can create significant cost savings in waste hauling fees while creating a more environmentally-friendly hotel. Solid waste in hotels has many components - paper, food, metals, plastic, aluminium, glass. Often hotels hesitate to establish programmes in solid waste management because of the co-ordination and co-operation needed among management, employees, and guests. However, the cost benefit is an incentive.

Another aspect of such a programme is dealing with food waste, which can often be a large portion of the organic waste. Over-preparation, table scraps, cooking losses, and packaging failures lead to accumulation of food waste. Fortunately, hotels are increasingly recognising that composting is a better use of organic materials than trucking them to landfills.

Today, hotels are consistently becoming greener. The most costly and wasteful use of resources in hotels are usually in the consumption of non-renewable energy, excessive water use, and the generation of waste. The term 'green hotel' describes hotels that strive to be more environmentally friendly through the efficient use of energy, water and materials while providing quality services. Green hotels conserve and preserve by saving water, reducing energy use, and reducing solid waste. They have seen benefits such as reduced costs and liabilities, high return and low-risk investments, increased profits, and positive cash flows. Identifying these benefits and incentives has allowed the popularity of green hotels to grow.

The usage of innovative methods are increasing, for instance, as toilets and urinals are being recognised as high consumers of water, options are becoming available that have lower flush volumes, and systems are being introduced that separate solids from the fluids. At the Orchid, an Ecotel hotel, a recycling programme for each material has been implemented for which there is a recycling market in Mumbai. It doesn't use carbon copies in any area of the hotel, as the chemicals used in them are toxic and kill micro-organisms that break up solid waste in landfills. The hotel uses handmade paper and office paper made of 100 per cent post-consumer (re-cycled) content.

Liquid waste

Liquid waste can be divided into two broad categories based on its potential to contaminate ground water: low risk and high risk.

Low risk includes waste water that a normal household would produce, including animal and vegetable matter, soap and diluted domestic-use cleaning solutions. Waste water from commercial and industrial sources is also considered low risk as long as both the ingredients and their concentrations are similar to household waste water. Businesses which typically produce this kind of waste water include restaurants, schools, hotels and some veterinary clinics.

High risk includes waste water that has ingredients, in types or concentrations, which is normally not found in household waste water. This category includes waste water which contains any pollutants.

Getting the team involved

The key to putting in place an effective waste-minimisation programme such as this is good teamwork, and this has to percolate from the upper levels of hierarchy, downwards. Senior management involvement is a crucial first step for companies wanting to improve their resource efficiency (and their bottom line). However, only by ensuring that all employees are involved can waste minimisation be integrated into the organisational culture.

A good starting point is to appoint a ‘champion’ to co-ordinate and facilitate the waste-management programme. The champion should have credibility across the business, demonstrate enthusiasm for the role and have the ability to motivate and organise staff.

Staff should also be told the value of the materials they are handling and the cost of frequently taken-for-granted resources such as water and energy. Talking about potential savings in money terms is more meaningful than quoting percentages and helps drive home the impact of waste on profits.

Once an initial action plan has been agreed, consider ongoing activities to keep staff motivated, such as an internal waste bulletin, regular team updates and inclusion of waste-management issues in training programmes. Incentive schemes - whether a financial payment, small prize or personal recognition - can also be extremely effective in maintaining momentum. Companies might choose to reward individuals or teams for meeting waste reduction targets or coming up with the best suggestion to improve resource efficiency. Importantly, ideas and achievements should be publicised to enthuse others.

Hotels across the globe are setting up monitoring systems and standards for each of its areas. This system may be used for monitoring liquid or solid waste areas. Setting goals and targets and monitoring results are great tools for observing your progress in waste management. And the goodwill the process generates has a multiplier effect on the fortunes of those involved.