Transforming tourism
Single-use plastics
In 2020, the Iberostar hotel chain set an industry precedent by completely eradicating single-use plastics from all its assets. This initiative ranged from complimentary in-room products to plastic food wrapping, representing a significant achievement within its "Wave of Change" strategy. This strategy focuses on mitigating the environmental impact of the hotel industry, especially in coastal areas, demonstrating a firm commitment to environmental protection and regenerative tourism, a new form of tourism that seeks not only to minimize but also to improve the environment and the local culture and economy.
Hotels use numerous products containing single-use plastics. This contributes significantly to the pollution of the oceans, interestingly, many of these items coincide with the garbage found most frequently on the coasts, such as food wrappers used in catering and in minibars, toothbrushes, beverage bottles, straws and a long etcetera.
But this is not the end of the problem: its good mechanical and insulating properties, together with its low cost, make plastic an essential material in many industries for the preservation, transport and packaging of numerous products.
Predominant wastes on the coasts
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People Management Award 2023
ILUNION HOTELS
Awarded for its "Campus Mijas" initiative, a training center of reference in a natural environment whose mission is to develop the talent of professionals interested in the tourism sector.
The plastics industry has a major impact on the environment, mainly due to the large amount of waste it generates and its slow degradability. Every year, 400 million tons of plastic are produced, a large proportion of which are short-lived products that become waste. This plastic waste ends up in landfills, oceans and other natural environments, where it can take hundreds of years to decompose. In addition, the plastic manufacturing process is highly energy intensive and uses fossil fuels as feedstock, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. In 2019, plastics were responsible for the generation of 1.8 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases, accounting for 3.4% of the global total (UNEP).
The problem of plastic pollution not only affects ecosystems and biodiversity, especially marine biodiversity, but also has consequences for human health. Microplastics (including nanoplastics that can even enter cell membranes) are small plastic particles that can enter the food chain and have adverse effects on health. They come from the slow breakdown of plastic into smaller and smaller particles.
Annual plastic production
More and more tourism companies are joining the movement to eliminate single-use plastics from their activities, thanks to a three-pronged approach: An increasingly aware society that is beginning to notice the impact of plastic pollution and climate change, and increasingly stringent legislation. In Spain, Law 7/22 on Waste and Contaminated Land for a Circular Economy, passed on April 9, 2022, marks an important step in the management and reduction of single-use plastics. This law is part of the country's response to the European Union's Green Deal and seeks to increase the recycling of plastics at the end of their useful life. Among its provisions, as of January 1, 2023, a special tax on non-reusable plastic packaging was introduced, with the aim of encouraging the prevention of waste generation from this packaging and promoting its recycling. The tax is levied at a rate of 0.45 euros per kilo of plastic used in the manufacture of single-use packaging, thus encouraging the use of recycled or reusable materials, including alternatives (bioplastics).
Food waste
However, it is not only plastics that constitute the main impact of the hotel business. Globally, food waste has become a critical issue, reaching almost one billion tons annually. According to the Food Waste Index 2021, published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 931 million tons of food are wasted worldwide every year (17% of the total food available to consumers), of which 569 million tons come from households. The remaining amount is attributed to restaurants and other food services (244 million tons) and retail (118 million tons). Globally, per capita, 121 kilograms of food are wasted per consumer each year, and 74 of these kilograms are wasted in households. Food wastage in landfills contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases, mainly methane, a gas much more potent than CO2 in terms of global warming. Food waste not only intensifies climate change and highlights inequality in the face of global hunger, it is also a waste of crucial resources such as water, energy and land, devoted to producing food that ultimately goes unused.
Global food wastage in Kg per capita and by sector
Iberostar, on its way to Zero Waste (to landfill), has introduced technology to avoid food waste in its operations. It employs Winnow technology, a company that provides solutions to reduce food waste, especially aimed at the food and hospitality sector. They use advanced technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) with their Winnow Vision tool, to help kitchens automatically track food waste, reduce costs and save time. This system weighs and takes photos of discarded food as it is thrown away and uses these images to train the machine, improving accuracy in identifying and reducing waste.
Working on the solution
As a solution, we recommend an effective strategy that begins by discarding the use of single-use plastics in hotel operations, replacing them with more sustainable alternatives or, in the best-case scenario, dispensing with them altogether by recognizing their unnecessary presence. This approach not only reflects a commitment to sustainability, but also reveals opportunities to reduce costs associated with traditional, deeply rooted practices in the hotel industry. By eliminating these products, hotels can lead the way to greener, more economically efficient operations, demonstrating that less is more.
It is crucial to improve waste management in commissary supplies, many of which are delivered wrapped in plastic, including food, cleaning products, and more. Implementing effective separation and recycling policies, as well as ensuring effective traceability with the entity responsible for waste management, is critical. Although successful separation of packaging for recycling is achieved, the recycling rate of these materials still requires optimization. In Spain, the average recycling rate is approximately 51%, varying according to the autonomous community, which means that much of the single-use plastic and other disposable packaging will end up contaminating ecosystems and affecting biodiversity.
Percentage of waste from plastic packaging recycled in Europe (EU-7) in 2019, by country.
Tourism contributes to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, drives massive movements of people that produce significant amounts of waste and a profound environmental impact, and exploits natural ecosystems, putting their biodiversity at risk.
In view of these circumstances, the transformation of the tourism sector is crucial. The economy of many European countries, including Spain, depends significantly on tourism. Therefore, addressing and resolving the main problems that impede the achievement of quality tourism is essential for the future and sustainability of the sector.
European countries particularly dependent on the tourism industry in terms of % of GDP
Regenerative tourism
Iberostar is committed to coral regeneration through its "Wave of Change" strategy, as part of its commitment to responsible tourism and environmental sustainability. The initiative includes the opening of coral nurseries in the Dominican Republic, in front of its Iberostar Bávaro and Iberostar Costa Dorada resorts, for a total of seven nurseries in the Caribbean.
Percentage of plant and animal species threatened with global extinction as of October 2022
Travelers are aware of their environmental impact while on vacation
Tourism needs a fundamental transformation in its approach: it is not only a matter of minimizing its environmental and social impact, but of evolving towards a practice that actively regenerates and enriches the environment and the communities in which it is developed. Only in this way can we guarantee a legacy that transcends the present activity and preserves the sector as a major economic driver without generating negative impacts.