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As the travel and hospitality industries rebound from the effects of the global pandemic, hoteliers have a chance to reinvent themselves in the minds of travellers. Experience is at the heart of hospitality, but one way to stand out is to stake out a path towards sustainability.

Sustainable hotels have a real competitive advantage, both in building a stronger brand and by reducing waste costs. According to Operto, 85.6% of travellers would prefer eco-friendly hotels over those without published policies.

How can you start the journey to sustainability? Our waste management experts share their insights below.

1. Skip Single Use Anything

There are a lot of things that hotels and B&Bs believe are essential for guest service: water in the room, liquid toiletries in single use bottles, and plastic wrapped plastic cups.

These items create a huge amount of plastic waste, and very often, they even go unused.

Thankfully, there are other options. Some items to swap out include:

• Single use toiletry bottles in favour of full-size bottles or dispensers
• Plastic water cups in favour of dishes from the kitchen or restaurant upon request
• Plastic water bottles
• Paper pads and plastic pens

Even if you’re not ready to remove these items entirely, you can order smaller cases and only provide them on request. And don’t forget to make sure you’re working with a provider who can recycle plastic toiletry bottles, so you can dispose of them properly.

2. Bale Your Textiles for the Circular Economy

Textiles are another significant waste stream that you can divert from landfills. The best way to keep sheets, towels, and cloths from landfills is to extend the lifespan of each item.

You may not find the need to replace textiles often, but these are still important waste streams that you can manage with a little creativity. For example, you can consider partnering with other hospitality companies in your area and bringing your recycling together to lower each of your overall cost.

3. Provide Recycling Bins in Rooms & Common Spaces

Unlike other businesses, hotels manage two waste streams: the waste your hotel produces to serve guests, and the waste guests produce as they call their room their home.

You can improve sustainability in a tangible way by providing recycling bins in rooms and in common spaces, like the lobby, hallways, dining areas and car parks. Providing these facilities along with helpful signage will make it easier for maintenance and operations teams to sort all your waste streams and ensure you maximise your recycling potential.

Capturing more recycling waste that’s pre-sorted (and clean because it wasn’t fished out of the bin) also makes it easier to throw into a waste baler. Baled waste also reduces your footprint because it takes up less space, offers more useable fibres, and requires fewer vehicle movements to remove, which makes for a more holistic waste management plan.

4. Offer the Digital Option First

How many pieces of paper and plastic does the average guest receive during their stay? If you count them all, you might be surprised. We can count:

• Welcome letters
• Information sheets
• Itineraries
• Maps and guides
• Menus
• Invoices
• Key cards and paper holders

These are lovely touches, but they also create a lot of additional recycling waste.

More and more, hospitality businesses are turning to email and QR codes to share information with guests. These digital copies keep information close at hand for guests, and they reduce the amount of paper you print. Because if you print 12 pieces of paper per guest and you have 100 guests in a week, you’re printing 1,200 pieces of paper each week – or 62,400 pieces of paper each year.

As an added bonus, not only are digital copies more sustainable, but they’re also more accessible for guests managing vision loss, which makes your hotel more inclusive.

We’ve given you some great tips for waste reduction and diversion – you can bring your hospitality waste management plan to life with the right partners. LSM helps businesses like yours manage costs and waste with waste balers. Get in touch to learn more about what the UK’s leading waste and recycling baler specialist can do for your business.