STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—Food waste from restaurants accounts for a large proportion of a hotel’s waste in total. Leftovers from buffets, kitchen scraps, bread and what guests leave on the side of their plates all add up to hundreds of kilos every day. Much of this food waste is thrown away unnecessarily and Scandic is now taking the next step in its work on sustainability by actively working on waste management at all its hotels. A recently completed pilot shows that, with know-how and planning, the hotels can reduce breakfast waste by more than 30 percent.
By training staff, controlling purchasing and the amount produced for each particular occasion, and passing the message on to guests, the target is to reduce waste from breakfast by just more than 30 percent, from today’s 141 grams/guest to 90 grams/guest. If the 75 hotels in Sweden succeed in hitting the target, the proportion of waste will be cut by 232 tons over the year as a whole. It is a target that Thomas Fankl, director food & beverage at Scandic Sweden, is confident that the hotels will meet.
“During the spring we ran a pilot at our Scandic Upplands Väsby, Scandic Bromma, Scandic Grand Central and Scandic Sjöfart hotels that shows that cutting waste significantly is entirely achievable,” Fankl says. “All staff have now been trained in ways of reducing food waste. It involves thinking about how the ingredients are handled and the way the food is presented on the buffet, and then all the waste is weighed on special scales. I am convinced that everyone working together will ensure that the project is a success.”
Actively working on waste management brings major environmental benefits. Using up tomatoes to make salsa, for example, means that between them the hotels save vast quantities of resources that would otherwise go to waste. Staff and guests can both contribute. The latter are encouraged not to leave food on their plates with signs that read “eat as much as you like, and bin as little as you can.”
“Working with waste management means protecting the environment and our future,” Fankl says. “Naturally the focus is always on guest satisfaction and we hope that the approach will go down well with our guests. An additional benefit of the project is strengthening pride among our staff. They are committed to cutting waste and feel that they are doing their bit.”
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