Pioneering the transformation to a minimal waste hospitality industry
With millions of guests visiting our hotels around the world each year, we have an opportunity to help them achieve more sustainable travel experiences through reducing the impact of the products and services they use.
Our 2030 commitments
- Eliminate single use items, or move to reusable or recyclable alternatives across the guest stay
- Minimise food going to waste through a “prevent, donate, divert” plan
- Collaborate to achieve circular solutions for major hotel commodity items
Eliminating single-use items
To support our efforts, hotels have access to a Single-Use Items Toolkit, a best-practice guide for reducing, reusing, replacing, and recycling single-use items. It includes brand examples and insights for diverse waste infrastructures.
We have also set brand standards to cut plastic waste. In 2019, we became the first global hotel group to commit to replacing bathroom miniatures with refillable dispensers worldwide.
Food waste
We have a global food waste training programme for all regions and hotels, which features an e-learning module that’s available in 13 languages and is included in the General Manager training programme. Based on a ‘prevent, donate, divert’ plan and the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Guardians of Grub campaign for the hospitality industry, our training encourages hotels to monitor food waste and take action where required.
A more sustainable breakfast atHoliday Inn Express
Circular solutions
We recognise that products provided to guests staying in our hotels can collectively generate large amounts of waste if not reused or recycled. Therefore we aim to embed circular economy principles by procuring products that incorporate recycled content or make sure items can be put to good use once they leave our hotels.
Our projects allow our hotels to take into consideration the circularity of these products and choose biodegradable or recyclable solutions.
