Rotana Corporate Sustainability Report 2012

79 Responsible Supplies We work with a diverse range of suppliers to source raw materials and products to support our operations around the world. We seek to buy at competitive rates but not at the expense of labour standards or the environment. We do not have a sustainable procurement policy yet; however we are continuously working to improve our sustainable purchasing by buying more sustainable materials for our hotels. We have partially integrated sustainable criteria into our purchasing procedures, mainly for signing corporate agreements such as choosing certified energy efficient equipment, organic food produce, paints free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and biodegradable cleaning products, papers made from recycled materials. Across hotels, we have developed a purchasing management programme, with the aim to give guidance to each department on sourcing products which are more sustainable in their manufacture, use and disposal. We constantly review certain products and services and identify availability of sustainable alternatives. • Using L’Occitane amenities like shampoo and lotion in bottles made of 100% recycled plastic in 30% of our rooms. • Providing guests with reusable cloth laundry bags. • Switching /replacing to zero-VOC paints. • Installing CFC and LED light bulbs in hotels. • Cleaning with EcoLab cleaning products and detergents. Cleaning and laundry products delivered in concentrated form which reduce waste, water and energy. • Selecting Energy Star®-rated office equipments. • Installing low-flow toilets, sinks and showers. • Serving Illy coffee, as declared by the company, “the world’s first company to earn the Responsible Supply Chain Process certification from DNV (Det Norske Vertias)”. The certification attests to the sustainable practices of illy’s supply chain, and in particular, to the quality of Illy’s relationships with its suppliers: the world’s highest-caliber coffee growers. Offering sustainably and responsibly sourced menu options: Replacing sustainable sea food selections. The Hammour is the most commercial fish in the UAE, touted as the ‘national fish’ and a firm favourite amongst UAE residents. It is dangerously over-fished, causing it to decline beyond its sustainable level of more than 80% since 1978 according to Emirates Wildlife Society. These species are particularly vulnerable to over-fishing due to their slow reproductive rate and mainly because they are caught before they can reproduce. 7x Factor by which Hammour is overfished. Khalidya Palace Rayhaan by Rotana Abu Dhabi has stopped serving Hammour in all its outlets and distributes flyers together with the menu to educate guests to think twice before ordering this endangered fish in any other outlets outside the hotel. We are currently coordinating with EWS- WWF to adopt and implement the “choose wisely” campaign sea food programme that is designed to help the company’s hotels to source, prepare and serve sustainable seafood and the guests to divert their choices to more sustainable fishes. The campaign requests customers to support sustainable fishes with the choices they make at the restaurant by selecting more sustainable seafood options offered in the menu and labelled according to species: • Red: Think again, for stock heavily overfished • Orange: Good choice, stock exploited within sustainable level • Green: Go for it, stock not heavily fished Plastic water bottles: Rotana signed a corporate agreement with the bottled water company Masafi in the UAE. The company has new light weight 0.5 liter plastic bottles with 23% reduced plastic and less harmful to the environment, by ensuring less carbon dioxide emission. The new bottles weigh just 13 grammes instead of the original 16 grammes. The new bottles will produce 0.023 kilograms less carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per bottle. For HDPE closures used in water bottles, the weight is reduced by 30% from 2.5 grammes to 1.75 grammes. The water bottles’ shrink-wrap packaging in made of oxo-biodegradable films, a significant step that reinforces the company’s commitment to environment. Going forward, we plan to develop a procurement sustainability policy, add responsible purchasing criteria to our suppliers’ selection programme and to conduct sustainability audits for our individual suppliers and longer-term contracts suppliers. In 2012, we consumed 3.5 Million Masafi 0.5 liter water bottles and saved 3.3 Tonnes and 9.6 Tonnes of plastic from the reduced weight of plastic lids and bottles respectively.