By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans. Tourism is both the cause and the victim. Futouris and schauinsland-reisen have set themselves the goal of identifying the plastic waste in three hotels of the Hilton hotel chain in the United Arab Emirates and reducing it through appropriate measures.
A pilot project to reduce plastic waste caused by tourism was carried out in the Balearic Islands. As part of the “Plastic-free holiday” project, Futouris developed and tested innovative measures in several hotels in Mallorca and Ibiza to reduce the amount of plastic waste and increase the recycling rate.
Futouris member schauinsland-reisen and the hotel chain Hilton Group UAE are transferring and adapting these results to three Hilton hotels in the United Arab Emirates.
In a first step, the plastic waste generated in the three participating hotels (quantity and type) will be identified and analyzed as part of an audit in each hotel. In addition, the status quo of the existing recycling and waste systems in the destination will be recorded.
The results will be presented to the hotels and their employees and discussed in kick-off workshops. Working groups will be formed with the employees and suppliers involved who want to actively support the project in order to jointly develop measures to reduce waste.
In order to involve and motivate employees to support the initiative, interactive workshops are held in the respective hotels in which the measures developed are presented and feedback from employees is obtained.
The jointly developed measures will then be implemented and tested in the three project hotels. In an accompanying analysis, the amount of waste will be measured and feedback on handling and any operational challenges will be obtained from hotel staff and suppliers, and guests will be asked for their feedback on the measures.
After the test phase, a guide with recommended actions to reduce packaging waste will be created based on the project results. This guide will be made available to all Hilton hotels and Futouris members.
Every year, 8 million tons of plastic enter the oceans, and it is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea. Tourism is not only a victim of plastic pollution, but also a contributing factor. Therefore, tourism companies and hotels around the world have committed to reducing tourism-related plastic waste.
Together with our members, we at Futouris develop innovative projects and implement them in practice. Our projects are as diverse as our members. Our common goal: to preserve travel destinations and make the industry fit for the future.