For more information on how to build an exceptional recycling program for your healthcare facility, click here. If you’ve been in healthcare facility management for a while, then you know waste management on your grounds can be a difficult, yet rewarding, task. It’s something that requires daily attention to drive awareness and nudge habit on your staff & patients. Standardize your program, add more recycling stations, reduce contamination—these are all the typical phrases you’ll hear in the recycling community about how to improve diversion rates and reduce costs at your resort. These are all successful practices; however, there’s many moving parts to each that makes tackling them successfully a little more difficult—but that’s why they brought you on board! The team at Busch Systems has put together the following essential list of 11 best resources to help you learn how to run a spectacular recycling & waste management program for your healthcare facility. Even better, they’re all free! Okay, yes. Some may ask for you to share your email address to access some of them, but that’s a small price to pay for what you’ll get! If you know of some more resources that’ll help your fellow healthcare facility managers, please comment below with your suggestions and we’ll add them to the list. And don’t forget to bookmark this page, so you can refer back to it when you’ve got some more time to brush up on your recycling & waste management skills for you healthcare facility. 5 Ways Hospitals can Launch Effective Recycling Programs for Single-use Products [Blog] ~7 min read. Single-use products are a great area to focus on in regards to waste management for a healthcare facility. By the nature of their work, it is no surprise that hospitals produce millions of tons of waste annually, much of which is single-use. This article by Green Biz provides 5 quick strategies for managing single-use waste and using it as an opportunity to giving your healthcare waste management program a significant boost.   Waste Reduction & Recycling Tips for Hospitals & Healthcare Facilities [Blog] ~7 min read. This one has aged a little bit, but just as the title states, Wastecare Corporation has provided us with a quick list of benefits and tips to starting a recycling program for your healthcare facility. They’ve also provided a couple of case studies outlining the savings realized at a couple of large hospitals throughout the U.S.   Develop and/or enhance the facility’s recycling program [Workbook] ~45 min read. One of our favorites. This is a workbook of sorts generated by the American Hospital Association and the goal, as the title states, is to develop and/or enhance a comprehensive, fiscally sound recycling program that is incorporated into all departments, enhances regulatory compliance, reduces waste volumes and offsets emissions associated with solid waste disposal. Beautiful! Enjoy.   Hospitals are Going Green to Reduce Waste [Blog] ~5 min read. Quick and dirty blog from a company called Roadrunner. This one gives some quick figures on the state of recycling in healthcare. If you’re just beginning your journey into building a solid recycling program at your healthcare facility, this is a nice place to start!   Hospitals save millions with sustainability programs, cut back on waste [Article] ~10 min read. An excellent article from Healthcare Finance News. It’s always nice to see the financial community realizing the benefits of recycling–makes those conversations with the CFO much easier when you’re outlining your waste management budgets for the following year! A lot of great stuff in this article for beginners to experts.   Recycling Single Use Devices in Canadian Hospitals – Grand River Hospital [Case Study] ~5 min read. This is a quick (really quick) case study highlighted by the Canadian Coalition for Green Healthcare that focuses on recycling single-use devices. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but it definitely should spark some ideas for your healthcare recycling program!   GreenCare Community – How do we recycle in our health care facilities? [Case Study] ~6 min read. This is another quick case study from British Columbia GreenCare. This page provides some quick updates on how their program is doing throughout many of their healthcare facilities. It also provides numerous graphs outlining how their diversion rates have improved over the last five years on their journey towards their 2020 waste goals. Neat stuff!   Healthcare Plastics Recycling: Making It Happen at Your Hospital [Guide] ~60 min read. This is an awesome resource for healthcare facility managers tasked with implementing a strong waste management program. As the authoring organization is called Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council, obviously this guide is focused on recycling…you guessed it…Tires! Alright seriously, plastics. As previously mentioned, single-use plastics are a major area for opportunity in healthcare recycling & waste management. This guide provides some simple, yet very useful tools for recycling large quantities of single-use plastic products.   Are disposable hospital supplies trashing the environment? [Article] ~10 min read. This article authored by Wendy Glauser, Jeremy Petch & Sachin Pendharkar and hosted on Healthy Debate provides some interesting perspective for discussion regarding disposable waste at healthcare facilities. Sensing a theme?!   Delaware Recycles – Commercial Recycling Toolkit Health Care [Toolkit] ~30 min read. This simple toolkit from Delaware Recycles is designed to help set up a new recycling program or help evaluate the current recycling program in health care settings such as doctors’ offices, laboratories, and the administrative wings of hospitals. It’s not the most complex toolkit, but again, it’s a great place to start.   Waste not: Developing a hospital recycling program [Article] ~10 min read. This article by Bill Turpin, director of strategic business for WM Healthcare Solutions & Dr. Linda D. Lee, director of WM Healthcare Solutions outlines the simple necessary steps a healthcare facility can take to improving their recycling & waste collection program. And there you have it! Plenty of resources to get your journey to sustainable healthcare waste management started. We’ll continue to update this page as we see more great information come down…

For more information on how to build an exceptional recycling program for your hotel resort, click here. An overview of the Economic, Social & Environmental benefits associated to building a solid resort waste management program. Guest expectations during a hotel stay are changing rapidly. In a competitive business that strives to fill its rooms every night, sustainability has emerged as a great way to step ahead of the competition. While this does not currently afford the ability to charge a premium rate for green hotel assets, positive feedback on guests’ comment cards indicates the value of including hotel guests when forming a hotel’s sustainability initiatives. According to a survey of 72,000 Hilton guests, about 33 percent said they prefer hotels with environmental and social programs. Not surprisingly, among guests younger than 25, that number jumped to 44 percent. Besides polishing your green image, hotels also have the incentive of reducing how much they spend to haul away waste. The hotel industry has a long history of waste reduction—most notably, recycling and composting. Recycling is a popular practice due to the fact that many recycling methods can yield significant savings in a short period of time. Hotels, motels, resorts, lodges and inns welcome millions of visitors per year. With their assortment of guest rooms, kitchens, offices, conference centers and laundries, these facilities also produce a lot of waste. Guest rooms alone can produce up to 28 pounds per day, depending on the type of property and number of occupants. Luckily, much of the waste generated day-to-day at any guest-hosting facility is recyclable. Experienced lodging managers have found that developing a waste reduction and recycling program significantly improves their image and saves them money quite rapidly. Improving your waste management program supports a community shift towards shared zero waste goals and benefits all parts of society: Economic Impact The economic impact of implementing a strong waste management program at your resort is two-fold: Improved Occupancy Rates A survey of 1,300 U.S. travelers by TripAdvisor.com shows that nearly two-thirds of travelers, 62 percent, often or always consider the environment when choosing hotels, transportation and meals. The survey, also shows that 69 percent say they plan to make even more eco-friendly choices in the next 12 months. Long story short, if a guest has a choice between a resort with a lackadaisical sustainability program vs. one with a solid sustainability strategy, more often than not will the guest choose the more sustainable choice. This is not a groundbreaking revelation, but it amplifies the importance of having a successful waste management program in place due to its significant role in the overall sustainability strategy. Drastically Reduced Waste Removal Costs Trash removal costs can be exorbitantly expensive in areas such as dense cities or remote areas. By removing paper, plastic and other recyclables from the waste stream, hotels can cut their waste disposal bill by as much as 50 percent. As an example, one lodging manager for a boutique hotel mentioned “In New York City, it’s not unusual to have a $100,000-a-year waste bill, and if you can cut that by $50,000 that’s a big deal to the operator of a hotel.” Another example is the community of Whistler, B.C, which has a large portion of their community built around high occupancy resorts and multi-family residences. Here’s an excerpt from their Zero Waste Solutions Guide: The costs associated with the collection, transportation and processing of waste are rising and this trend is expected to continue. Tipping fees are paid by private waste removal companies, often referred to as “waste haulers”. Understanding tipping fees can help to identify the financial incentives for keeping recyclable and organic materials out of the garbage. In 2017 – The tipping fee for garbage increased from $130 to $140 per tonne. The tipping fee for mixed waste – garbage containing more than 25% recyclable materials, clean wood, organics or yard waste – increased from $260 to $300 per tonne, which is more than double the cost of uncontaminated garbage. The cost of organic remained at $75 per tonne, nearly half the cost of garbage. Tipping fees for recyclable materials including glass, rigid and film plastic, paper, cardboard and metals continue to be covered through extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs. Businesses and properties that reduce waste better position themselves to decrease waste management costs over the long term. Whistler’s movement to focus on the low-hanging-fruit of implementing a strong organics/compost program in their community has drastically reduced their waste removal costs. Social Impact Strong waste management programs contribute to the overall health and well-being of a community. Sustainable resorts, hotels, motels, resorts, lodges and inns that use recycled materials, will be more likely to establish ties or open up branches in a town that has a vested interest in recycling. Fewer landfills means better property values, as well as the knowledge that your community is actually working to mitigate global warming. Lodgings that actively recycle send the message that they really do care about the environment. Green actions show a community commitment to a greener future, which can help to empower residents and guests to further personal actions. Setting a green standard in the community creates more jobs. These jobs support a shared transition to a more sustainable and resilient society. In fact, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance reports that industries engaged in sorting and processing recyclable material employ 10 times more people than traditional waste disposal firms do. Environmental Impact The environmental impacts of recycling are plentiful, but let’s focus again on the low-hanging fruit of implementing an organics program at your resort. Some people believe that food will simply decompose once in landfill, but this is not true. Diverting organic waste from your resort waste stream has many ecological benefits, including, but not limited to the following: Reducing methane emissions, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than CO2. Minimizing the formation of leachate, a toxic runoff which threatens ground and surface water. Returning nutrients to soil, which both improves…

For more information on how to build an exceptional recycling program for your hotel/resort, click here. If you’ve been in lodging management for a while, then you know waste management on your grounds can be a difficult, yet rewarding, task. It’s something that requires daily attention to drive awareness and nudge habit on your staff & guests. Standardize your program, add more recycling stations, reduce contamination—these are all the typical phrases you’ll hear in the recycling community about how to improve diversion rates and reduce costs at your resort. These are all successful practices; however, there’s many moving parts to each that makes tackling them successfully a little more difficult—but that’s why they brought you on board! The team at Busch Systems has put together the following essential list of 12 best resources to help you learn how to run a spectacular recycling & waste management program. Even better, they’re all free! Okay, yes. Some may ask for you to share your email address to access some of them, but that’s a small price to pay for what you’ll get! If you know of some more resources that’ll help your fellow lodging managers, please comment below with your suggestions and we’ll add them to the list. And don’t forget to bookmark this page, so you can refer back to it when you’ve got some more time to brush up on your recycling & waste management skills for your resort. Recycling for the Hospitality Industry [eBook] ~45 min read. A Guide for Instituting Recycling Programs in Hotel and Motel Properties. This one’s an oldie, but a goodie brought to you by Clemson University. This resource has tips, walkthroughs, worksheets—basically all of the necessities to getting your resort recycling program started.   Waste Reduction & Recycling Tips for Hotels, Resorts & Motels [Blog] ~5 min read. Just as the title states, Wastecare Corporation has provided us with a quick list of benefits and tips to starting a recycling program for your hotel, resort or motel.   Reducing and Managing Food Waste in Hotels [Blog] ~25 min read. This guide has been produced by the International Tourism Partnership (ITP) in collaboration with Considerate Hoteliers. It focuses on Organics/Food Waste in the hotel industry, which as you know (or are going to learn!) is the low-hanging fruit in regards to making a large impact, quickly! The article draws on resources from organizations like WRAP that are available for the hospitality industry, with additional statistics and information on waste management separately referenced. It is designed for use by Corporate Responsibility and Environment Managers and Chefs.   Estimating solid waste generation by hospitality industry during major festivals [Study] ~60 min read. Ever wondered about the impact of hosting large festivals at your hotel/resort? Major festivals annually generate large quantities of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), which can negatively impact the environment and human health if poorly managed. The hospitality sector, specifically hotels, is one of the major sources of MSW generated during these festivals. Because it is essential to establish a proper waste management system for such festivals, accurate information regarding MSW generation is required. This study therefore investigated the rate of production of MSW from hotels in Kerbala during major festivals.    Environmental Management for Hotels: The Industry Guide to Sustainable Operation – Chapter 4 – Waste [eBook] ~45 min read. This is an excellent eBook produced by Green Hotelier. This chapter in the eBook specifically focuses on sustainable waste management for your hotel/resort. It includes some interesting statistics, walkthroughs and some toolkits you can use to get started right away!   MGM Resorts Recycling & Waste Management Page [Webpage] ~5 min read. There’s not much actionable content here, but there’s some interesting statistics and a small case study about MGM Resorts’ sustainable activities in regards to waste management. Can you picture your hotel resort broadcasting a page like this? We can!   Best Environmental Management Practice in THE TOURISM SECTOR: Waste sorting and sending for recycling [eBook] ~60 min read. Another excellent eBook, this one produced by the European Commission. This eBook is an extract from the report Best Environmental Management Practice in the Tourism Sector. It provides a nice walkthrough of the best practices in regards to recycling & waste management at hotels while providing interesting statistics along the way.   Recycling: The best kept secret on the strip [Article] ~10 min read. This quick news article from the Las Vegas Sun covers the “hidden” positive impact of recycling on the Las Vegas strip paired with an interview of Brad Tomm, Sustainability Manager for MGM Resorts. Mr. Tomm is painted as quite the hero in this article—where’s your cape?! Let’s do this.   Recycling: A case study approach to sensitize the hoteliers [Study] ~60 min read. This study from Clarion University investigates the role of recycling in successfully managing the hotel businesses. The case studies of different hotels highlighted in this paper confirms recycling as a successful green strategy for their business, which additionally benefits the environment.    DEVELOPING A SUSTAINABLE RESORT: A CASE STUDY OF A FAMILY RESORT IN CENTRAL ONTARIO, CANADA [Study] ~100 min read. This is a student thesis submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Reading through this will be an arduous journey, but there’s plenty of meat and potatoes here to learn and gain inspiration from!   C40 Good Practice Guides: Oslo – Waste Management Strategy [Study] ~100 min read. Oslo, Norway has been producing some pretty amazing numbers over the years in regards to waste diversion. The city of Oslo has set an overall target to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 and to become carbon neutral by 2050 compared to 1990. One of the measures needed to achieve this ambitious target is an integrated waste management system, which Oslo launched in 2006 with its Waste Management Strategy (WMS), aiming to establish a “recycle and reuse” society. While this doesn’t cover specifically Hotel/Resort waste management, it discusses how the city as a whole…

For more information on how to build an exceptional recycling program for your hotel resort, click here. We’ve been building exceptional lodging recycling & waste management programs for over 35 years. Here’s 9 key secrets we’ve unearthed that’ll build the green brand you’ve always wanted for your resort and save you money in the process. Let’s start with the facts. Hotels are chief consumers of resources, and they contribute immensely to the generation of waste: According to Open Access Government, hotels produce, on average, 320,000 tons of waste each year According to a 2018 study conducted by the Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management, the waste composition of 120 surveyed hotels was identified by 58.5% for biodegradable waste (food waste), 25.8% for recyclables and 15.7% for others. The same study also revealed that the implementation status of waste management practices of the hoteliers initially reaped quite positive achievements with 76% for sorting, 39% for recycling, 29% for reduction, and 0.8% for composting.  In the era of the Green Economy, it’s essential for every hotel and resort to have an effective waste management program in place. An effective program focuses on reducing waste, reusing useful materials and recycling them. Ineffective lodging programs tend to generate a lot of waste, require regular maintenance and expensive waste disposal. Bearing these things in mind, let’s take a look at 9 key ways to enhance the effectiveness of your resort waste management program. Always begin with a preliminary waste audit to categorize and quantify your lodging waste  Step one of building a successful waste management program for any industry begins with identifying and categorizing the types and quantity of waste produced by every segment of your grounds. Use a map of your grounds to identify key areas (i.e rooms, recreational areas, offices, restaurants, etc.) and begin to identify what types of waste is being generated in each area. For example, front-office waste (like papers, documents, brochures), household waste in rooms (cans, bottles, cardboard), and organic waste from restaurants (vegetable and fruit peels, flowers) can be separated into custom, color-coded bins for easy stream identification and simple waste disposal that minimizes contamination. Build a Green Team How much time does your resort facilities management team have to spare for sustainability initiatives? If the answer is less than you would like, a green team can be the most valuable ally in your quest for building an effective recycling program. A Green Team is a small group of employees whose combined goal is to educate, empower and inspire colleagues to establish and promote environmentally sustainable practices within their organization. Every new initiative needs a full launch campaign and a group of influencers that will help build the momentum of your program. Without a green team, it will be very difficult to get your new waste management program off the ground. To setup your green champions for long term success, make sure this group has formal oversight, tools for measurement and verification, and a clear mission. Communicating your program to your guests is essential Because your guests don’t spend every day of the year at your resort, they may not be aware of how your recycling & waste management program operates. This means you have seconds to educate your guests about the materials you’re collecting and how they’re separated into specific streams. Start with your recycling stations! Make sure your recycling & waste labels on your containers are clear and easy to understand. Many resorts have people visiting from all parts of the globe that speak many different languages. Use impactful graphics with clearly identifiable images of typical items that can be discarded and standardize these graphics, so they’re consistent throughout your resort.  Get everyone on board with your program by telling everyone about it! Communicate and educate staff about the resort’s goals and the sustainability initiatives so they can pass the knowledge onto your guests. Modify your operational habits The daily operation of your hotel provides you with an excellent testing ground for some of the waste management techniques. Reducing the amount of waste begins with modifying little things. Here’s some examples to get your creative juices flowing: Switch to refillable dispensers for cleaning products in every room. Use dishware to serve meals instead of disposable plates. This not only reduces the waste, but elevates your brand in the process. Instead of selling bottled water, install water fountains on each floor. Avoid paper products other than toilet paper in the bathrooms. Using LED bulbs instead of regular ones automatically means fewer replacements since LED bulbs last up to 10 times longer. In-room recycling programs can be a significant source of cost savings Every room counts! One may assume the seemingly small amount of waste generate in each room is insignificant compared to waste generated at central, high-traffic locations across the grounds. Not true! Kimpton Hotels — the company behind 70 Park Avenue in New York and the EPIC Hotel in Miami — has saved about $267,300 a year through the in-room recycling programs that have been in place across the chain since 2004. In an interview with the NY Times, Niki Leondakis, COO for Kimpton mentioned, “Just cardboard recycling alone ranges from $12,000 to $20,000 a year in savings,” According to Kimpton’s website, the chain reduces its trash at its 47 hotels by more than 40% through recycling alone. Ditch single-use plastics From the Hilton vowing to remove all plastic straws by the end of 2018, to the Marriott replacing the individually offered toiletries with reusable dispensers, hotels and resorts are tackling every facet of their operations to find ways to reduce their plastic usage. These changes have a large positive impact on the environment and lead to a significant reduction in waste management costs (i.e time spent collecting litter and waste tipping fees). Re-evaluate Disposal Habits Not long ago, waste removal was mostly built around collecting co-mingled materials and sending the waste to landfills, where it was incinerated or compacted by waste disposal companies. These days, however, you can take an active role in…