IHG Partners Green Vortex for Responsible Disposal of e-Waste across South West Asia

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, in its support towards the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan ("Clean India" Campaign), has partnered with Green Vortex to reduce the environmental and health impacts of e-waste across its hotels in South West Asia.

Under the agreement, Green Vortex, a leading e-waste management company based in Manesar, Gurgaon, will work with IHG to ensure electrical and electronic waste across its hotels in the region are processed, recycled and disposed of in an effective manner.

E-waste which will be disposed of includes various electronic devices such as computers, printers and mobile phones; electrical hardware such as washing machines, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners; and other miscellaneous items such as storage drives, power control units, keyboards and calculators. All waste disposal will be done in compliance with government regulations and guidelines, and focus on tackling resulting toxic emissions which may cause air, soil and ground water pollution.

In addition to the tie-up with Green Vortex, IHG has also initiated an education programme which aims to inform its colleagues and the surrounding community about the importance of e-waste, and potential health impacts it can have.

Earlier in the year, IHG pledged to support the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan through cleanliness drives, contributing to sustainable sanitation by building lavatories and conducting education programmes across India. As part of this initiative, IHG hotels in the region have started to engage guests and stakeholders in helping to raise the funds needed for the development of lavatories, to be ready by World Toilet Day in November this year.

As part of IHG's corporate responsibility programmes, all IHG properties in India are also IHG Green Engage certified. IHG Green Engage is an online environmental sustainability tool, which gives hotels the ability to track energy, carbon and water consumption as well as to assess how waste is managed, further demonstrating IHG’s ongoing commitment to sustainability. The company has a global target of reducing carbon footprint per occupied room by 12% across their entire estate and reducing water use per occupied room in water-stressed areas by 12% by 2017.

Last year, IHG implemented over 20,000 Green Solutions across its global estate through the IHG Green Engage™ system; nearly 75,000 in total since its launch. The company is also tracking well on its 2013 – 2017 targets, having achieved a 3% reduction in carbon footprint per occupied room and a 4.2% reduction in water use per occupied room in water-stressed areas.

IHG currently operates 23 hotels across four brands in South West Asia: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express; with another 50 hotels in the development pipeline due to open in the next three to five years.