Sustainability: Waste elimination

Government action to eliminate avoidable waste is too slow, writes Roger Gardner, who urges the hospitality sector to take action of its own

The UK government has declared war on plastic, especially single use plastic, and the hospitality industry needs to play its part.

The world’s oceans, a barometer for the effects of our throw-away culture, clearly show that urgent action is needed. The government’s goal is for elimination of all avoidable waste by 2050 and all avoidable plastic waste by 2042.

With plastic waste gripping the public imagination and many of us looking more critically at our own behaviour, the business travel sector would do well to examine its own performance.

There is something over 100,000 flights every day worldwide and a huge number of airline meals with packaging that gets thrown away. While hygiene and freshness may dictate that some packaging is needed, greater innovation is needed to enable biodegradable materials that minimise long-term adverse impacts. Airlines increasingly use ‘big data’ to predict the number of meals that may be purchased or consumed so as to avoid current over-catering but they could go further and require pre-ordering of food.

Way back in 2004, the US Natural Resources Defence Council found that the US airline industry discards enough aluminium cans each year to build 58 Boeing 747 aircraft, discards 9,000 tons of plastic and enough newspapers and magazines to fill a football field to a depth of more than 230 feet. And, in the intervening 14 years, the situation may not be a lot better despite growing awareness.

Sustainable Aviation reports that over half of all cabin waste could be recycled but contamination concerns linked to Category 1 food waste and engaging staff with effective procedures get in the way.

The scale of the waste problem now is such that far greater care has to be taken to get the message across to the traveller as well as to sharpen procedures.

Hotels have their own challenges but it is good to see the trend of fewer plastic bottles in conference rooms and more reusable glass bottles and for refillable toiletries

in bathrooms.

So what can be done by the business travel sector? Awareness is key so giving all levels of management, staff and consumers information about impacts and simple positive actions is essential.

Encouraging people to use their own water bottle, making reusable tote bags available and avoiding single use plastic containers all make a difference.

The business travel community is alive to these issues but perhaps treads warily and does not show the evangelical zeal it could for fear that more dictatorial policies would discourage custom.

That time is past as the body of evidence shows that we are all placing an intolerable burden on our biodiversity, ecosystem and the future health of the planet.

It is clear that action at a governmental level will be too slow so each sector of the economy must be a champion for minimising its own plastic use.

Action at government level will be too slow so each sector of the economy must be a champion for minimising its plastic use"