Rotana Corporate Sustainability Report 2017

65 Beach Rotana, Abu Dhabi saved USD 30,000 by cutting food waste by 40% in just a little over a year since the implementation of Winnow smart scales. The technology helped the team manage, measure and reduce food waste. This result is a demonstration that with the right tools, commercial kitchens can effectively reduce their waste. The Cove Rotana Resort has strengthened its commitment to the environment by acquiring a machine to decompose waste food. It has a capacity of 270 kg of daily food waste input, treating around 95 tonnes of food waste/year, 390 tonnes diverted from the landfill every year. The output is grey water that is environmentally safe and that goes down the drain. The Cove Rotana Resort has reached a major environmental milestone by adopting a new recycling programme and initiatives to improve the waste diversion rate and engage more hotel guests. Colour coded trash bins are distributed all over the resort for guest awareness. Food and organic waste is decomposed using the automatic composting machine. In addition, the hotel appoints a “Captain Green” – a colleague who is in charge of segregating recyclables wastes. As a result of various practices, in 2016 the hotel recycled: • 11.5 tonnes of cans • 13.7 tonnes of plastic • 21.5 tonnes of cartons • 26 tonnes glass bottles • Food waste composted 99 tonnes FOOD WASTE Food security and food waste is an especially important issue in the Middle East. Globally, 30–50% (or 1.2–2 billion tonnes) of all food produced is lost before reaching a human stomach. Food waste is the most significant component of hospitality waste and we recognise our role to reduce food waste in our hotels, much of which is preventable by better portioning, managing, storage and/ or preparation. To reduce and ensure the proper handling of food waste, we have initiated a number of measures: • Putting up cards on tables or signs next to buffet stations with inspirational quotes to encourage guests not to over-fill their plates at the buffet or leave behind food waste on their plates. • Having an efficient RSVP system in place for meal reservations at the restaurants serving buffets. Donating unserved leftover food from the buffet to charity programmes like UAE’s Red Crescent “Hifth al Ne’mah” and Saudi Arabia’s “Itaam “programmes at the end of meal service. • Providing less food variety during the buffet meal or coffee breaks (such as in conferences, events, etc.). • Increasing the period of time between coffee breaks and meal times for full day events (e.g., conferences, workshops, etc.) which include coffee breaks and lunch buffets. • Offering guests a take-away option, where they can put the leftovers from their plates to take home with them. In cases of event buffets (e.g., weddings, etc) guests can also be offered the takeaway option and be allowed to take food at the end of the event. • We have also installed food composting and food digesting machines in 3 hotels. 7 of our hotels in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Sudan, Iraq, Oman and Lebanon, have partnered with various organisations and food banks to donate the excess food prepared in our hotels to charitable organisations and labour camps. Rosh Rayhaan by Rotana, KSA General Manager signed an agreement with the “Itaam” Saudi food bank CEO. Itaam is a year-round charitable organisations that collects quality meals with the help of regular employees and volunteers and delivers them to beneficiaries recommended by charitable organisations. 40% food waste reduction 10t of waste/42t of CO2e saved annually (or) 24,250 of meals saved annaually High team engagment with average categorisation rate of >[95]% AED 105K annualised saving • Bech Rotana & Winnow have been working together to reduce food waste since November 2017 • Food waste costs your site AED 275,236/year*