RESTON, VA.—Being environmentally friendly is a growing trend, and the Westin Reston Heights walks the walk, taking home the 2016 Green Travel Leader Award. The award was given by the Commonwealth of Virginia’s travel arm, the Virginia Tourism Corp. Located just outside of Washington, D.C., the hotel is managed by Crescent Hotels & Resorts, an operator of over 100 hotels throughout North America, including 14 in the Washington, D.C. area. “We are so proud to have won this award among the countless hotels in the state of Virginia,” said Don Anderson, Complex General Manager, who oversees the hotel and the adjacent Sheraton...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) and the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council (USZWBC) announced that they are formally joining forces to advance zero waste business practices. USZWBC will be integrated into the global GBCI community that drives sustainability across all sectors. GBCI will assume responsibility for the ongoing management and evolution of the Zero Waste Facility Certification and Zero Waste Business Associate programs created by USZWBC, and the zero waste principles will be aligned with GBCI’s offerings. “GBCI is taking another important step toward creating a holistic strategy for green business that began when the U.S. Green Business Council...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has released the 2016 Lodging Survey—the definitive industry review examining the top trends in the hotel industry. Conducted by industry data provider STR and funded by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF), the survey provides a comprehensive understanding of sustainability steps hotels are taking, amenities, guest services and more. With just over 8,000 responses, the overall completion rate for the 2016 survey was 15 percent—a drop of three percentage points from 2014. Surveys were emailed to 22,423 hotels through STR using a third party service from www.surveymonkey.com. Surveys were faxed...

ITHACA, N.Y.—Food waste is a major issue for hospitality industry purveyors, both in terms of the cost of wasted food and the environmental consequences of tossing out tons of food. By one estimate, about one-quarter of food prepared in the United States is wasted. A new report from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) is aimed at helping hotels and restaurants control their post-consumer food waste. The tool, “FRESH: A Food-service Sustainability Rating for Hospitality Sector Events,” by Sanaa I. Pirani, Hassan A. Arafat, and Gary M. Thompson, is available from CHR at no charge. It presents six areas where...

NATIONAL REPORT—Paper or cloth? That is the “napkin” question that is answered in restaurant and other foodservice situations millions of times each day around the world. How that question is answered can have a sizeable impact on the environment and the volume of waste exiting a hotel. Not surprisingly, experts come down on both sides of the issue but most give cloth napkins the edge from a “green” standpoint. Also, as has been discovered time and time again by hoteliers, the kind of napkin presented can significantly impact the guest experience. Several years ago, Milliken & Company, a producer of...

BRUSSELS—Radisson Blu announced its new partnership with the Soap for Hope program, which recycles used hotel soaps to create fresh bars for distribution in local communities with limited access to hygiene and sanitation. The Soap for Hope program works in partnership with Sealed Air, a leader in food safety and security, facility hygiene and product protection. Soap for Hope was pioneered by Sealed Air to save lives by giving free soap to communities with limited access to soap, to create local entrepreneurs and to help hotels reduce waste through recycling. Capitalizing on the success of projects in Georgia and in...

MCLEAN, VA.—Hilton announced that all 750 properties across its All Suites brands will recycle discarded soap and amenity bottles and donate them to reduce hygiene-related illnesses for communities in need. Marking the first time in the industry this is required as a brand standard, it is a major expansion of what is already the industry’s largest soap recycling program that will now include 1,370 hotels participating across Hilton’s portfolio. Hilton’s All Suites brands include Embassy Suites by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Home2 Suites by Hilton. They comprise nearly 15 percent of Hilton’s portfolio and 29 percent of its pipeline, and...

LENZING, AUSTRIA—Lenzing achieved another milestone in its innovation heritage in the textile industry by developing a TENCEL fiber based on cotton fabric waste. Lenzing is the first manufacturer worldwide to offer such cellulose fibers incorporating recycled materials on a commercial scale. TENCEL, already a market success as an eco-friendly fiber, is now achieving another key milestone by creating from natural resources what is likely the most sustainable fiber. TENCEL from cotton waste fabrics will further build Lenzing’s reputation as a leader in the field of environmental technology and will push new solutions in the textile industry towards a circular economy by...

NATIONAL REPORT—According to the most recent AH&LA/AHLEF/STR Lodging Survey, 64 percent of U.S. hotels have a recycling program. That percentage rises to 90 percent in the luxury and upper upscale segments. Most of the major hotel companies have established goals for reducing waste. One example: Hilton Worldwide had a 2015 goal to divert waste from landfills by 25 percent in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Even as the industry has made progress in waste reduction, inefficiencies remain in the waste compacting and pickup process. Oftentimes, compactor breakdowns or operator missteps are not caught and haulers make unnecessary pickups, increasing...

ODESSA, FLA.—Hasek Communications, the Odessa, Fla.-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes reCollect2 as a Founding Sponsor. The company is the creator of the reCollect2, an in-room recycling receptacle. The reCollect2 is a simple, attractive and effective recycling solution for both guestrooms and in-office recycling. Each reCollect2 set includes two matching 10 qt. bins that rest in a set-base with the choice of imprinted messaging. Other features include: •    Manufactured from recyclable polypropylene plastic; •    Multiple layout configurations; •    Clean, cohesive and streamline silhouette; •    Messaging printed on front, side and back of base; •    Messaging printed on front of bins; •    Custom messages and...