LONDON—As part of Responsible Business Week and marking Earth Day, April 22, Green Hotelier named the winners of the Green Hotelier Awards 2016. The winning hotels in four regions around the world represent those which have made the biggest commitments to sustainability with innovative programs that positively impact their people, their community and the planet. Judge and editor of Green Hotelier Siobhan O’Neill said, “We were honored to receive dozens of applications for the Awards this year, and judging them all has been both difficult and delightful. In previous years the winning hotels often stood head and shoulders above...

Sometimes it’s great to feel like a zero. OK, maybe only when it concerns your hotel’s amenity waste program. Pursuing zero waste is a smart strategy for a hotel staff’s ability to significantly reduce the property’s carbon footprint, while reducing both waste and cost. Plus, guests are finding these programs make them happier and increase satisfaction during their property visit. Today’s consumer has a deep desire for an emotional connection with brands, and environmental transparency builds on the travel experience, increasing brand affinity. It all adds up to higher guest satisfaction scores, a more loyal customer base and less resistance...

CROSSVILLE, TENN.—Officials with domestic tile manufacturer Crossville Inc. announced the company recycled 16,939,634 pounds of fired porcelain in 2015, bringing the company’s cumulative recycling total to just over 70 million pounds since the 2009 launch of the Tile Take-Back program and subsequent TOTO USA recycling partnership.These recycling initiatives are based on the company’s proprietary process for recycling fired porcelain products, including post-consumer materials. Through Tile Take-Back, Crossville is able to recycle previously installed tile collected from its distribution network, as well as scraps that result from tile cutting during installation, sizing, or sample creation. Through its TOTO partnership, Crossville...

CHESTNUT RIDGE, N.Y.—BioHiTech Global, Inc., a green technology company that provides data-driven solutions for food waste disposal, recorded a new quarterly record with 20 new Eco-Safe Digester orders from commercial customers across the United States and abroad in the first quarter of 2016. Camelback Resort, an interactive mountain resort in the Pocono Mountains, has placed an initial order for two Eco-Safe Digesters adding to BioHiTech’s family entertainment customer roster.Camelback Resort includes Camelback Lodge and Aquatopia—the biggest indoor waterpark in the Northeast. The 453-room lodge offers mountain activities from skiing and snowboarding to Pennsylvania’s largest outdoor water park and zip...

NORTH LAKE, WIS.—reCollect2 Company, the Wisconsin based creator and supplier of the reCollect2 recycling receptacle, announces the addition of Jason Riphenburg to the organization’s management team. Jason, who has an extensive background in financial services and customer care, will be taking on the role of co-owner alongside the organization’s owner/founder Ann Riphenburg. Ann was the mastermind behind the design and development of the simple yet unique recycling container which can be found in green hotels and businesses across the United States and internationally.For his part, Jason, brings a wealth of hands-on business acumen and expertise as well as first-rate...

PARIS—Next spring, 14 years after being conceived by Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs and Euro Disney, Villages Nature Paris will open 20 miles east of Paris. The resort will be a showcase for green design, geothermal technology and will be based on harmony between man and nature. Villages Nature Paris will open with 916 dwellings, more than two-thirds of which will be cottages and one-third family suites. The dwellings will be owned by individual and other investors and managed by Villages Nature Paris. According to Dominique Cocquet, CEO of Villages Nature Paris, within five years the development is expected...

NATIONAL REPORT—To eliminate plastic bottle waste, to reduce costs, and to enhance employee and guest health, hotels are switching to water bottle filling stations in both front and back of house areas. They are now standard for Hilton’s Canopy brand. Several vendors, including FloWater, Haws and Elkay, now offer the stations. Each company offers its own spin on bottle filling and models are available from the most basic, non-filtered version to one that includes a seven-stage purification process. Some stations include counters that tally how many plastic water bottles have been avoided. That number can become an important part...

LONDON, ON.—Dispenser Amenities Inc., a London, Ontario based supplier of shower dispensers and bulk shower liquids to the global hotel industry, was awarded one of eight 2016 Supplier of Excellence Awards from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide at the recent Starwood Americas Leadership Conference which took place in Denver.Tad Wampfler, Senior Vice President and Supply Chain Officer for the Starwood organization presented the Award to Ian Wallace, President of Dispenser Amenities. “We have more than 27,000 suppliers in the Americas, so winning this award is no small accomplishment,” Wampfler stated. “We very much value the commitment Dispenser Amenities has...

NATIONAL REPORT—In an age when locavores rule, trash fish dinners are the new chic, and foodie tourism is trending, it is the perfect time for hotel chefs to enhance their properties’ narrative and take on the issue of food waste. What was hot and trending in 2015? Food waste reduction according to 1,300 chefs surveyed by the National Restaurant Assn. The growing counter culture to food waste is so widespread the Association’s annual What’s Hot List placed food waste reduction right behind hyper local sourcing in their Top Twenty Trends. Food waste is a global problem, but 40 percent of the...

SAN FRANCISCO—The Hilton San Francisco Union Square has quite a win streak going. On February 17, the 1,919-room hotel hosted the Hotel Council of San Francisco’s first Stay Green Forum. The event drew 275 attendees. “Lieutenant Governor Newsom was the keynote speaker,” says Jo Licata, Community Projects Manager at the hotel. It was a great success. We had almost every hotel in San Francisco represented.” Also in February, the hotel garnered a lot of publicity for being the first hotel to participate in the Better Buildings Challege SWAP, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program that saw officials from...