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Waste & Use of Materials

3 | Accelerating

Corporate Office

Neutralise negative impacts and build robust positive impacts

Outcomes

By the end of this stage you will have achieved the following outcomes from the Pathway Framework:

Waste: Value chain involvement.

  • Principles of circular economy are embedded into all decision making.
  • Initiatives to reduce packaging from suppliers are in place.
  • New waste reduction and management solutions and initiatives have been investigated and innovative ones have been implemented.

 

 

 

Use of materials: Advanced initiatives in place.

  • Production, use and disposal of all items purchased are mapped (processes, sources and destinations).
  • The waste hierarchy is a key determining factor in purchasing decisions.
  • Single use items have been removed from operations.

Setting up for success

Take ownership

Enable owners across all organisational teams to be innovative

Review and update governance procedures

Engage stakeholders

Collaborate with key stakeholders to develop and test an innovation project

Find other brands and management companies you can learn from

Understand impact & dependencies

1. Carry out an assessment to understand where brand standards and FF&E specifications recommend items linked to the linear economy approach
2. Review procedures to see if they require or encourage use and disposal of items

Set targets

3. Review company targets, property-level targets for managed hotels, and suggested targets for franchised hotels for waste, and strengthen and expand them to embed principles of circular economy into all decision making. Include goals on reducing supplier packaging, removing all single use items from operations, removing barriers to a circular economy from brand standards
4. Demonstrate your commitments publicly

Take action

5. Review available guidance to identify and select additional relevant actions. You should include supporting hotels with actions to eliminate all single-use items from operations, actions to reduce supplier packaging (where procured centrally), and waste reduction and management solutions / initiatives for all waste products and materials
6. Update brand standards (and standard operating procedures, if set at corporate level) to embed the principles of circular economy, and reduce waste to landfill
7. Modify brand standards to include procurement codes which apply to franchisees
8. Engage key suppliers to see what their waste commitments are, share targets set and how they can help achieve goals
9. Engage with national and international actors (governments, NGOs, conservation groups, partnerships, coalitions etc.) to align plans and increase the scale of progress and access to responsible waste management solutions
10. Determine financial and non-financial resources needed, create a business case and gather required resources
Resource: Responsible Procurement Factsheet
11. Update procurement policies and develop a Supplier Code of Conduct and supplier evaluation process which includes environmental considerations
13. Engage with customers and enable them to make more environmental choices

Reviewing & Reporting Progress

Monitor & Report

Conduct an independent assessment for environmental and social impact

Review progress by comparing against previous performance and industry benchmarks where available (such as CHSB). Repeat on a regular basis (e.g. monthly/quarterly)

Document learnings and any recommendations for follow-on actions to share with internal and external stakeholders

Review benefits seen through actions

Review challenges encountered along the way and plan solutions to implement

Update leadership and staff on progress

Seek certification by a globally recognised certification programme (e.g. GSTC recognised or an ISO standard)

Inform corporate customers and investors of performance and activities

Report your progress publicly on an annual basis. Publish disaggregated data and align reporting with established frameworks, e.g. CDP, GRI, TCFD, Integrated Reporting
This guidance was developed with support from Considerate Group                                 

Share your case studies with us!

As hospitality companies progress towards Net Positive Hospitality, the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance is keen to share good news and best practice from across the industry. Our Net Positive case studies are shared across our website and LinkedIn, acting as a positive space to celebrate these actions, achievements, and commitments.

We invite hotels to get involved by sending case studies to press@sustainablehospitalityalliance.org and / or tagging @Net Positive Hospitality and @Sustainable Hospitality Alliance within LinkedIn posts relating to environmental sustainability or social responsibility.

Waste & Use of Materials - PDF Checklist

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4 | Leading - Give back more than you take

Ready to move on to the next stage?

Once you have completed Waste & Use of Materials – 3 | Accelerating, you are ready to move on to 4 | Leading.