WORLDWIDE: A survey by Clean the World, which offers environmental and social impact solutions for the hospitality industry, has highlighted a lack of trust from guests in how they view hotel recycling initiatives.
A survey of 200 people between April and June this year showed a discrepancy between guests’ expectations and assumptions in hotel recycling practices.
While 88 per cent of travellers factor sustainability into their hotel booking decisions, 58.7 per cent believe that most hotels do little, if anything, to recycle their bathroom amenities.
These respondents assume hotels simply bin all recyclable items after a stay.
A lack of trust in a hotel’s environmental commitments has seen some guests take matters into their own hands with just over half, 51 per cent, of people taking leftover bathroom amenities home with them, while 57 per cent believed their hotels would not responsibly dispose of them if left in the bathroom.
Clean the World found that consistent messaging about recycling initiatives from the hotel to the guest was an issue, with 41 per cent of respondents saying they would like this information included in their hotel room info pack while 23 per cent said they would want to access this information on the hotel website before booking.
Meanwhile, more than half of the respondents expressed interest in receiving information about the environmental impact of their stay after they have checked out.
Clean the World aims to help the hospitality sector tackle its carbon footprint by diverting bathroom amenities from landfill and recycling the collected soap into new bars. It then donates the new soap bars to global NGOs, such as The WASH Foundation.
Tommie Eaton, director of Clean the World Europe and UK, said: “It’s clear from the responses we have received that hotels which embrace and transparently communicate robust sustainability practices stand to gain a competitive edge.
“It’s also clear that hotels must engage with guests at multiple touchpoints throughout their stay —from the initial booking phase to post-checkout, ensuring that sustainability practices are clearly communicated and easily accessible.”
With more than 8,300 participants in its Global Hospitality Recycling Programme, and more than 1.4 million hotel rooms processed daily, Clean the World has already diverted over 27 million pounds of waste from landfills and donated more than 85 million bars of recycled soap since its inception in 2009.
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