Hotels can make a significant impact on waste reduction and recycling. A waste audit conducted in six properties by the Florida Energy Extension Service indicated that waste generation in guest rooms varied from 1/2 to 28 1/2 pounds of waste per day. One hotel in their pilot proje ct saved about 1.25 billion BTU of energy in six months by recycling. This reduction in energy use (which is 125,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity) is the same as energy consumed by 1,250 100-watt light bulbs burning continuously for 42-days. Imagine the savings!!
Let’s get started! Follow these eight steps to create your hotel’s recycling program – you won’t regret it, trust us!
1. Select a Recycling Coordinator
Accountability is key to the success of your green hotel’s recycling program. Who is going to be at the forefront of this effort? This is especially true at the beginning. Finding the right person to head this up is crucial. The ideal recycling coordinator will be:
- Enthusiastic about recycling and/or the environment
- Well organized
- A good communicator
- Familiar with starting, overseeing and maintaining programs
- In contact with the company’s waste haulers, janitorial staff or contracts
How much time does this position take? Well, that really depends on your employee’s participation. One hour per month is usually enough to maintain a successful hotel recycling program. Ask for volunteers, and we bet you’ll find a great candidate quickly.
2. Decide What to Collect
Consider that paper makes up an average of 37.5 percent of the waste stream. What else does your hotel use? What supplies do you have on hand? What do your guests and employees use? Take a walk around and start making a list.
Here are a few possibilities:
- Computer paper
- Aluminum cans
- Bathroom amenities
- Light bulbs
- Computers and accessories
- Glass bottles
- Inkjet/toner cartridges
- Plastic bottles
- Scrap metal
- Paper or plastic cups
3. Choose a Collection Method
To mix or not to mix? That is the question to ask. Now that you know which materials you are going to recycle, how do you collect them? Does everything have to be separated or can it all be thrown in the same bin? Your hotel can do either. Here are the pros and cons of each option:
Source Separation: Recyclables are separated by specific type. Examples:
- Paper recycling would have many bins including: white paper, colored paper, cardboard, office mail, magazines/catalogs, etc.
- Plastic recycling would have bins for each type of plastic: #1-7
- Bin items are extremely specific, with fewer questions as to what goes where
- Separated materials can have a higher market value
- It creates more environmental awareness for both guests and employees
- It requires more recycling bins (and a higher setup cost)
- Your recycling coordinator may have to spend time sorting materials
- You may have to find multiple destinations for recyclables if they are source-separated
- Too many recycling containers in your guest rooms
Commingled Collection: Recyclables are mixed together. The separation process happens at a material recovery facility. Examples:
- Paper recycling has one bin to collect all paper
- Plastic recycling has one bin to collect plastics #1-7 together
- It is less time-consuming for employees
- It usually involves larger participating groups
- The recycling coordinator will have less time invested
- Market values may be lower (e.g. mixed office paper may lower the value of computer paper if both are combined)
- Materials may be contaminated more easily if commingled
- Less opportunity for guest and employee education about recycling
4. Choose a Hauling Option
You know what materials you are recycling. You’ve determined your method of collection. You’ve got full recycling bins. Now how do you get rid of it?
Determining how to haul your green-conscious hotel’s recyclables away can be one of the greatest challenges. You should be realistic in planning how much your business is capable of recycling. The following are the most common hauling options available to most businesses:
Drop-Off Recycling Locations
Once you’ve collected all the recyclables from guest rooms, common area, back of house and the office, your recycling coordinator, or another volunteer, can drop off materials at a local center.
Earth911.com’s recycling locator will help your business find nearby drop-off locations. You can also see what your local Materials Recovery Facility will accept from businesses.
Things to consider when choosing a municipal or commercial drop-off center include:
- Recyclables accepted
- Contamination guidelines
- Minimum quantity requirements
- Prices per recyclable
- Hours of operation
- Payment options
Money earned from selling recyclables can be used to reimburse your recycling coordinator. Or, to create a fund for hotel events and parties for your dedicated hotel staff.
Pick-Up Providers: Pick-up services will often require a higher quantity of recyclables that your hotel alone generates. If your green hotel can produce the amount of recyclables required for a service such as this, here is some information on how to find the right pick-up provider for your hotel:
Commercial Recyclers: Commercial recyclers are often more suited for businesses generating larger volumes of recyclables. Pick-up or hauling fees may apply. They may offer other services including waste hauling, collection bins, educational materials and/or employee training.
Commercial Waste Haulers: Commercial waste haulers wanting to provide a “complete package” to their customers have started to offer recycling services, because they are able to make up their lost waste hauling fees with recycling revenue.
Commercial waste haulers may have volume and contamination requirements, pick-up fees and other requirements. You may be able to reduce your overall waste hauling expense, and only have to deal with one company, for solid waste and recycling.
Small Haulers: Don’t meet the required volume of a commercial recycler or waste hauler? Small haulers may work for you. These companies are usually considered “mom and pop” shops. They run smaller routes with fewer trucks, employees and equipment.
Larger commercial recycling companies and waste haulers will usually recommend smaller haulers because they buy the recyclables directly from the smaller haulers.
Small haulers may also have volume and contamination requirements and pick-up fees.
Cooperative Recycling: Your hotel only generates a small volume of recyclables. What can you do?
- Partner with neighboring businesses
- “Piggyback” onto a larger business’ recycling program
By pooling your recyclables, you can qualify for pick-up by a commercial recycler or waste hauler. Cooperative recycling is popular in multi-tenant buildings or complexes, strip malls and industrial parks. Cooperative recycling also makes it easy for recyclers to coordinate pick-ups more effectively.
If you get involved with a larger company, you win because you are able to recycle at no additional expense. The larger business wins by receiving additional volume and extra revenue.
- You may have limitations on the types of products your can recycle.
- The larger business may be penalized for any contaminated products that you send.
Back Hauling: Is your hotel in a rural location? You may have difficulty finding a recycling source. Consider back hauling (or secondhand hauling).
For instance, a grocery store could request that its delivery truck backhaul recyclables to a larger metropolitan market if the truck was empty on the return trip anyway.
Back hauling may be more challenging to find, and it’s only ideal for businesses that receive deliveries in the first place. But it’s better than not recycling your materials at all.
5. Set Up Recycling Bins and Guidelines
Organization is crucial to recycling. No matter what type of recycling program you implement, you’ll want to set up clearly-labeled plastic bins in places everyone will use them. Some good locations:
- A paper recycling bin and/or ink cartridge recycling bin in the copy room
- Aluminum/glass/plastic recycling bins in the kitchen and breakfast area
- A mixed recycling bin in all guest rooms
- An electronics recycling bin in the storage room
Another issue to consider for your recycling program is contamination. Materials that are contaminated won’t be recycled and could ruin larger batches of recycling. Luckily, contamination can easily be avoided by following these steps:
- Rinse out containers, so bins won’t get dirty
- Make sure there’s no food waste mixed in with recyclables (e.g. cardboard pizza box with oil remains) and that materials aren’t mixed (e.g. aluminum cans mixed with paper) if your recycler requires separation
- When in doubt, throw it out
Now it is time to implement your hotel’s earth friendly recycling program, and there are several factors to consider, including:
Internal Collection Container Locations
Your program will only be as effective as how easy it is for guest and employees to participate. Bin quantity and location plays a huge role in this. Here are a few options:
Desk Side or Desktop Containers
Everyone goes through paper. By placing a paper recycling bin next to the trash at each employee’s and guest room’s desk, it will become second nature for them to recycle paper. You can find a range of different styles on EcoGreenHotelStore.com
Central Collection Containers
These containers are for hotel common areas, and should be placed strategically in areas where products will be collected. An office copy room is an ideal area for a paper collection container, just like the kitchen would cater (no pun intended) to aluminum and glass recycling. Common sizes for central containers are 20- to 50-gallon plastic bins.
Final Collection Containers
These are often provided by the recycling service provider and serve as a final destination for all your recyclables before they are picked up or dropped off. Products from guest rooms, office and central collection bins will be unloaded into these large bins, which are usually hampers on rollers or plastic barrels with lids and wheels.
6. Monitor Your Program
Once your hotel’s recycling program is in place, monitor its progress to evaluate cost-effectiveness, employee participation and environmental impact.
Provide Feedback to Employees
Share the success, progress and problems with your hotel’s program periodically with guests and employees. Here’s how:
- Use company-wide e-mails to distribute updates or milestones about the program
- Inform staff of certain contaminants or individuals/departments with strong participation
- Publicize to guests the quantity your company recycles and revenues over a certain period (month, quarter, year); your hauling company will be able to provide this information
- Calculate/distribute disposal cost savings based on the decrease of waste
- Survey employees/guests/departments to identify program problems and improvements
- Post informative articles on recycling, source reduction, reuse and/or the environment to further educate hotel staff
- Include information on recycling program participation in the new employee orientation and/or handbook
- Show how successful and creative your program is by promoting your hotel’s efforts outside the business through green internet marketing
- Consider applying for various local, state or federal awards, such as the American Forest & Paper Association’s Paper Recycling Awards
- Become an EPA WasteWise business to further improve your program
- Get involved in local, state and/or national recycling and environmental or industry-related organizations.
- Distribute press releases on your green hotel’s program and accomplishments. Submit your press release to EcoGreenHotel and contact us to see how you can be featured in our distributions as well as social media-marketing program.
7. Promote Your Program Through Education
Proper staff education is crucial to the success of your hotel’s recycling program. Here are some tips:
- Education should start before your recycling program, so employees know what to recycle
- Introduce your staff and housekeeping staff to the program in writing, such as an introductory memo, and at a staff meeting
- If you are using a recycling pickup service provider, ask about employee education and training
- Explain how recyclables are collected, what is recyclable, how the program will benefit the environment and the company, as well as other waste reduction and reuse measures that will be implemented
- Show samples of recyclables and non-recyclable materials (contamination) on a board or sign near recycling containers
Create your own container and recycling signs:
- Recycle Cardboard
- Recycle Glass
- Recycle Inkjet Cartridges
- Recycle Paper
- Recycle Plastic
- Recycle Toner Cartridges
- Do NOT Recycle! Contaminants
8. The Role of the Housekeeping Staff
Housekeeping staff needs to be aware of the program since they will be collecting recyclables from each guest room. They need to be aware of the program to prevent unintentional contamination. Here are a few questions to consider:
- How will the recyclables be store in the cart separate from trash?
- How much time does this collection process add to cleaning each guest room?
- How does this impact the overall housekeeping schedule?
- What is the disposal process once collected by your housekeeping staff?