WASTE

WASTE MANEGMENT PRATICE IN HOTEL

Hotels generate large volumes of solid and hazardous waste. By proactively managing these wastes, a hotel can reduce operating costs, preserve local nature attractions such as coral reefs and beaches, and reduce odors and pest infestations

Effective waste management helps ensure the long-term sustainability of fragile coastal ecosystems and preserve the natural beauty of beaches, coral reefs, forests and rivers that tourists come to enjoy. In addition to these long-term benefits, hotels that practice effective waste management will achieve benefits such as:

1.     reduced manpower requirements for waste handling and disposal, ;

2.     reduced haulage and landfill tipping;

3.     revenue from the sale of recyclables

4.     protection from insect and rodent infestations

5.     reduction of fire hazards

6.     mproved community relations

7.     compliance with government regulations and codes, 

8.     reduced odors and improved asthetics and sanitation, and 

9.     increased guest satisfaction.

Small hotels should therefore seek to develop a solid waste management plan that follow three practical steps.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Waste Management Practice

A Self- Evaluation may be done at any time without need for outside help. This involves looking critically at all the areas in the hotel where waste is produced and deciding what steps may be taken to make operations more waste-efficient

The Environmental Walkthrough is a tool developed especially for small hotels in order to provide accurate and useful information on ways to save water, energy and materials, thereby reducing operating costs

The Small Hotel Environmental Assessment involves a team of two trained experts working on property for 2-3 days. The team reviews facilities, operations, and baseline performance1 and evaluates the property against a comprehensive list of best practices. The team then delivers a report that lists the best opportunities for reducing, reusing, and recycling waste and provides guidance on how to implement them

Checklist for Doing a Waste Management Self-Evaluation

1.     Does the property have an effective recycling program for items that can be recycled locally? ;

2.     Is waste collected and kept in tight-fitting containers and in an enclosed area? ;

3.     Are items reused on property when possible, given to staff or donated to charities instead of being thrown away? 

4.     What about unserved leftover food? ;

5.     Does the property minimize its use of individually bottled guestroom amenities and plastic bags? ;

6.     Does the property compost garden and kitchen waste? ;

7.     Does the property minimize its use of disposable items (e.g. plastic bags, plastic tableware, disposable cups, cook caps and aprons, paper napkins) and single serving food packages (e.g. butter, sugar, cream, jams, condiments, milk, juices and cereals)? ;

8.     Does the property have an effective program to collect and/or recycle used cooking oil? ;

9.     Does the property clean the grease trap frequently and without harsh chemicals? ;

10.  Does the property purchase chemicals such as cleaning agents, laundry chemicals, and dishwashing chemicals in bulk containers? ;

11.  Does the property ask chemical suppliers to take back empty chemical containers? ;

12.  Are housekeeping, laundry, and kitchen cleaning agents and chemicals dispensed using automatic chemical dispensing systems? ;

13.  Does the property use environmentally friendly chemicals and minimize its use of hazardous chemicals in its maintenance operations (e.g., drain cleaners, descaling acid, solvents)?

Step 2: Set Priorities and Take Immediate Action

After identifying opportunities for improving waste management, the property should identify the most attractive measures, prioritize them, and develop a simple implementation schedule or action plan that assigns responsibilities and sets target dates. An example action plan is shown at left. The main guidelines to remember when managing waste in order of priority are

1) Reduce the generation of waste at the source: Reducing the generation of waste is the first option that should be considered. This approach promotes the efficient use of resources and reduces the volume of waste material that must be handled by employees and hauled away from the property. Responsibility for reducing waste generation generally lies with management, who decides what is brought into the property and, thereby, determines what eventually leaves the property as waste.

2) Reuse all possible items: Whenever possible, hotels should reuse items in their original form for the same or a different purpose rather than discarding them. If an item cannot be reused on site, the property should investigate the possibility of selling it or donating it to employees, charitable organizations, schools, businesses or other interested parties.

3) Recycle all possible items: Recycling consists of processing and transforming wastes into new, marketable products. This is the least favorable of the three waste management options and should be considered only if the reduce and reuse options are not applicable to specific waste streams. It is also the waste management option that is most difficult to implement in Caribbean islands that lack a strong industrial base

Develop purchasing policies or guidelines that help the property reduce solid and hazardous waste.

1.     Purchasing housekeeping chemicals in bulk and in concentrated form, rather than in small, ready-to-use containers, reduces packaging waste and purchasing costs

2.     The unit cost of food items purchased in single-portion packages is generally significantly higher than its bulk purchase cost.

3.     Reduce the purchase of products with excessive packaging and avoid styrofoam packaging altogether. Wherever possible, or return boxes, crates, bottles and containers to suppliers.

4.     Write a letter to suppliers to communicate the hotel’s environmental policy and identify preferences

5.     Buy locally produced goods and fresh food where possible.

6.     Use soda fountains or carbonators as opposed to glass or plastic bottles for refreshments

Reduce the use of hazardous chemicals, and ensure staff use and dispose of chemicals properly

Train the staff in the safe and proper handling, use and disposal of chemicals.

1.     Provide protective equipment such as gloves and eye protection to staff when appropriate.

2.     Insist that contractors follow proper procedures when handling, using and disposing of their chemicals.

3.     Obtain the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) for all chemicals used on property.

4.     Hazardous wastes (if used) should be carefully handled and bagged/boxed separately from regular garbag

Reuse items on property, donate them to a charity or recycle them.

1.     Use scrap paper for notes and make it office policy to make double-sided copies if possible.

2.     Use refillable pens and toner cartridges, and re-inkable ribbons. 5

3.     Donate or sell outmoded furniture or equipment and old crockery, cutlery, magazines, linen.

4.     Reuse damaged linens and towels..

5.     Reuse slivers of soap. These can be mixed with warm water to make soapy insect spray for indoor and outdoor plants, or shred and use as presoak solution in laundry

6.     Reuse bags to reduce the use of disposable plastic bags.

7.     Remove partially used amenities from guest bathrooms only at check-out. These products should then be reused around the property (e.g., soap bars can be used to pre-soak or hand-wash laundry) or given away to charities.

8.     Replace the plastic liners that are used in guestroom garbage bins only when they are soiled or unsuitable for further use.

9.     Collect and recycle items such as glass and PET bottles, used cooking and motor oil, steel and aluminum cans, paper, and printer cartridges

Step 3: Continue to Make Improvements and Investments

1.     Reduce unnecessary waste by using, durable, reusable and bulk items rather than disposable or single-use products. Hotels can save considerable amounts of money by purchasing reusable products rather than disposable products. Although reusable products sometimes have a slightly higher initial cost, they offer substantial savings over the long-term.

2.     Reduce or eliminate the use of single-use items such as paper napkins and disposable plates, cups, cutlery, place mats, aprons and cook hats. In most cases, disposable items can be easily and cost-effectively replaced with durable items. For example, use durable coasters instead of paper napkins that must be replaced with every drink

3.     Reduce the use of plastic film by purchasing durable plastic containers to store food in refrigerators and freezers. 

4.     Where possible, use cloth cleaning rags instead of disposable paper towels or disposable J-cloths.

5.     Replace paper napkins and table coverings with linen.

6.     Use cloth bags or baskets instead of plastic bags to collect and return guest laundry and guestroom towels and linens.

7.     Use refillable amenity dispensers in guest bathrooms.

8.     Collect yard waste in canvas bags, wheelbarrows or carts rather than in disposable plastic bags.

9.     Use electrical resistance heaters, refillable alcohol or LPG burners instead of sterno (Handy Fuel) to keep food warm in buffet lines.

10.  Purchase and install bulk dispensing systems for guest amenities and cleaning products instead of using disposable individual containers

Develop a comprehensive system for garbage separation, recycling, and composting

1.     Purchase bins for separation of solid waste into recyclable, compostable, discard, etc. Bins for recycling or reuse should be provided across the hotel, and a recycling bag installed on housekeeping carts to hold recyclable materials from guestroom wastebaskets. Bins for collecting compostable materials should be located in the kitchen.

2.     Keep garbage receptacles covered and remove them frequently. Ensure that containers are thoroughly washed, disinfected and dried. Avoid burning garbage. Burning contributes to air pollution and odors.

Composting

 Composting is the natural decomposition of organic material, such as yard waste and vegetable and fruit waste, by naturally occurring microorganisms. Composting is a simple process that requires only a modest amount of effort and can significantly reduce a property’s solid waste stream and eliminate the need to purchase fertilizer or mulch. The key to a successful composting program is separating compostable materials (e.g., yard waste, vegetable cuttings, fruit peels) from noncompostable waste (e.g., plastics, meat and fatty food waste, metals) as they are generated. It is much easier to keep wastes separate from the beginning than to separate them after they are mixed. There is a range of methods for composting, from simple “no-tech” methods, to windrow methods, to specialized bins that accelerate the composting process. Generally, the simpler methods are cheaper and slower, while the engineered systems are faster, require less space, and afford more control over the composting process, reducing risks of odors.