The City of Cape Town commended businesses that recognise the waste as a valuable resource. Alderman Grant Twigg visited Hotel Verde last week which is recognised as Africa’s Greenest Hotel. It received the prestigious Net Zero Waste certification from the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA), the first in whole Africa.
Alderman Grant Twigg also stated that the waste is everyone’s business and with the increasing generation of waste in the City of Cape Town, they want to encourage other key stakeholders in the hospitality industry to join the waste diversion and minimisation journey towards a greener future.
Following this, the hotel goes beyond the partial reductions of solid waste to landfill and the negative ecological impacts. The journey of Hotel Verde to achieve Net Zero Waste was guided by two core strategies-sustainable purchasing policy as well as waste separation and composting.
This certification established the hotel as a pioneer in the hospitality industry for its outstanding waste diversion initiatives. Hotel Verde achieved an impressive 93% diversion rate for operational waste over 12 months and surpassed the required 90% landfill diversion rate.
Considering this, Twigg added that the City of Cape Town commends organisations and businesses such as Hotel Verde for not viewing waste as mere refuse destined for landfills. Instead, they must recognise waste as a valuable resource.
Its management is astounded by the amount of food wase guests generate. Through meticulous waste separation and composting efforts, the hotel has successfully composted more than 46,803 kg of food waste, that leads to substantial carbon savings.
Hotel Verde continues its sustainability journey as its next goal is to achieve Net Positive Waste certification by increasing the waste diversion efforts and collaborating with stakeholders to minimise difficult waste streams.
Currently, Hotel Verde implemented some major initiatives that includes:
- Encouraging the suppliers to adopt innovative and reusable packaging solutions.
- To prioritise environmental responsible procurement that reduces its carbon footprint and significantly cuts down on waste.
- They introduced clearly labelled bins for recyclables and food waste and promote sustainability among guests and staff while supporting environmental conservation.
- Food Waste is removed by a separate commercial composting company that composts the food waste and sells it as their own product. A small portion of the food waste is kept and composted on site to provide the compost needed for the gardens of the hotel.
- Guests are incentivised to partake in the sustainable lifestyle at Hotel Verde by offering them rewards for certain activities or for abstaining from others.
- An in-house currency has been developed for the above-mentioned purpose called a Verdino. A Verdino can be used anywhere in the Hotel as real money for things such as meals at the restaurant or curious and the gift shop and kiosk.
- Staff receives continuous training and attends educational talks so that sustainability is not compromised. As it is not just their job but also their lifestyle and they have to take what they learn back to their homes and communities.
- Each week a different staff member is assigned to assist with the sorting of the recycling waste too, in the waste area including Maria Delicio, who is the owner of the Hotel Verde.
- Wherever possible the office is a paperless operation and items are only printed if absolutely necessary.
- Within the staff there is a Green Team consisting of around 10 members who meet weekly to discuss matters regarding sustainability.
- It includes creating sustainability goals and targets assessing progress by bringing forward and implementing new ideas as well as planning ways to celebrate environmental days and holidays to create awareness among guests and staff