ITC Hotels’ commitment to ‘Responsible Luxury’ resonates through all its sustainability initiatives. Here’s a quick look.
The hotel chain noticed that around 2.5 lakh kg of single-use plastic was generated at its luxury hotels every year. The key contributors included 150 lakh water bottles, 15 lakh straws, 8 lakh stirrers, 8 lakh toothbrushes, 7 lakh earbuds and 3 lakh shoe shine.
To mitigate this consumption, it now procures more than 75% paper, stationery and wood from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified suppliers, preferring local vendors.
It is not alone. Another stalwart, IHCL, has replaced plastic straws from all its hotels and has installed bottling water plants at 15 properties, thereby eliminating 0.2 million kilograms of plastic. It aims to further reduce and eventually stop the use of single-use plastic in product packaging. Additionally, IHCL has launched the country’s first ever ‘Zero Single-Use Plastic Hotel’, Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Andamans.
There is a reason why these leading lights of the hospitality industry are literally up in arms against single-use plastics. India is the third largest generator of greenhouse gas emissions, according to The Wire’s recent report and household waste generates about 1.9% of the total emissions. Plastic products produced 17.8 million metric ton (MMT) of total waste in 2018, and is expected to cross 20MMT in 2021. Of this, 58% goes to the landfill or is termed as waste. The government targets to collect and recycle 60% of this by 2030.
However, recycling alone cannot work wonders in waste management. What is required is substitute for these plastic products, which can work parallel to recycling.
Come 2022, and the government plans to impose a permanent ban on the 1st phase of single-use plastic products. This will force most hotel companies to rethink their approach towards these products, be it straws, bottles or packaging. Brands like ITC Hotels and IHCL already have a headstart on them.
THE BIG SHIFT
Since it is evident that plastic pollution is an environmental crisis of mammoth proportions, hotel companies need to mitigate its impact by replacing single-use plastic products of high use with sustainable options on priority. Many are taking several steps to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic, a move that is much needed. They can start small, by shifting to zero-waste solutions by eliminating plastic toothbrush and plastic toothpaste tubes.
Explaining why Vaibhav Gupta, Founder, Earthum said, “These tubes can only be recycled when there is a proper infrastructure from disposal to break down and then recycling at the right place. Once they enter the landfills the other dump covers them and it is a hassle to segregate.”
Given the growing awareness of environmentalism, several plastic-free alternatives are now easily available. Bamboo toothbrushes are a great plastic-free alternative that won’t harm the environment and can be disposed off guilt free. Using a natural resource made from the earth that is durable, water resistant, antimicrobial, and biodegradable is a great advantage as it won’t be sitting around for 1000 years wasting away and won’t pollute after being disposed of.
Similarly, hoteliers can replace the plastic toothpaste tube with toothpaste tablets. These do not contain any chemical ingredients and require less water consumption during the pre-brushing process. Considering the stringent hygiene consciousness that most hotels follow, brands like Earthum provide recyclable paper pouch with two tablets.
A guest can use this to brush in the day and night. This minimalises the wastage of the toothpaste left in a tube after a guest uses it a couple of times. Moreover, it prevents these plastic tubes from clogging up the landfill.
Earthum’s Co-Founder, Tanishq Gupta pointed out that the process of brushing using toothpaste tabs remains almost the same as normal brushing. “You just end up saving little water with every brushing. On the other hand, even if hotels use toothpaste tubes made from recycled plastic, it can only be recycled up to three times and will eventually end up in the landfill,” he stated.
So, a small move of replacing toothpaste tubes with tabs can enable the hospitality industry to take a huge cooperative step forward towards sustainability. What’s more, they are cost-effective and efficient. Surely, this is another great incentive to put your money where your mouth is, literally!
