Waste Reduction in an International Hotel
Industry Sector
Hospitality
Client Profile
4 Star Hotel, part of an international group
Statement of Waste Issue
Reduce waste management costs through increased diversion of waste from landfillProcess
- Due to the nature of the business, two audits were undertaken, the first on a typical weekday and the second on a weekend
- Waste indicators were identified to allow extrapolations to be conducted over varying activity levels
- A detailed site review was conducted to observe practices both back of house and front of house
Findings
- Increased recycling would reduce waste disposal costs by 35%
- The value of unused items found in the waste totaled $33,000 per annum
- Current recycling systems were only capturing a small percentage of the total less than 25%
- A time and motion study estimated that during the 48 hour period there were in excess of 350 individual (55 liter) bin clearances conducted by Hotel staff
- Practices developed to reduce waste were not being consistently implemented
- The recycling system in place relied on individuals to undertake time consuming activities
- A retail tenant of the Hotel was contributing 20% of the waste stream, a cost that was not recognised in the rental agreement
Outcomes
- Findings presented to senior management team
- Waste reduction action plan developed
