NATIONAL REPORT—Any hotel property that has a restaurant or bar has to deal with bottle disposal. No matter where they are on the property—behind the bar or in the dumpster—bottles take up space. It costs money in labor to move them from one location to another and to have them hauled away. Glass bottles do not generate much cash as recyclables—about $4 to $6 per ton—so most often they end up in landfills. Yes, there are places where bottles are sorted for recycling or returned for deposit refunds, but sometimes it costs more than a nickel to get a nickel...

Building owners are taught to view waste as an inconvenience. The waste stream keeps flowing, and if anything disrupts the “get it out of here” model, we tend to view that with the same disdain as a clogged drain. Here’s the challenge: material has value. As recycling markets gain speed, recyclable material gains value. By thinking of your building as a bank account, the concept of “waste management” becomes a whole new game: asset management. Extending the idea of maximizing value to items in the waste stream, the best way to manage costs is to step in front of the...

DENVER—National park and resort concessioner Xanterra Parks & Resorts has received the National Park Service (NPS) 2006 Environmental Achievement Award for its performance at the Zion Lodge in Zion National Park. The NPS Environmental Achievement Award recognizes superior accomplishments in environmental stewardship. Zion Lodge also received the award in 2004. Xanterra also has received National Park Service Environmental Achievement Awards for environmental stewardship at the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The 2006 award was presented by Fran Mainella, director of the National Park Service. “Xanterra at Zion...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The latest American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF) and Smith Travel Research 2006 Lodging Survey provides valuable insight into industry availability of liquid soap dispensers, recycling programs, air purifiers, energy management sensors, linen/towel reuse programs and nonsmoking rooms. A total of 42,407 hotels were polled and twenty-one percent (9,300 hotels) responded to the survey that wrapped up the first quarter of this year. Survey results were released earlier this summer. The survey was funded by AH&LEF, the nonprofit affiliate of AH&LA, and tracked the size, scope and emerging trends of the U.S. lodging industry. The AH&LA...

ARLINGTON, VA.—The 2006 WasteWise and NPEP (National Partnership for Environmental Priorities) Annual Conference, with the theme “Partnering for Success in Sustainability,” will be held October 19 to 20 in Arlington, Va. The two-day conference, at the Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, will cover topics such as waste reduction, the climate/waste link and the reduction of Priority Chemicals. Contact Jeff Tumarkin or go to WasteWise for more information.

Waste management is entrenched as the least exciting aspect of the lodging industry. Aside from the obvious unpleasantness, waste disposal is a comparatively small expense and is often thought of as, “out of sight, out of mind.” Even so, the nascent green lodging movement has taken trash and recycling from the loading dock and parking lot and into the executive offices. There, the movement has quickly established itself as a viable way to control costs, enhance guest satisfaction and improve occupancy. While the economic benefits of going green are straightforward, the difficulty in executing a green lodging waste initiative boils...

NATIONAL REPORT—Ten billion. That is the estimated number of shower amenity packaging pieces that are thrown away annually by the world’s hotels. Thanks to efforts by dispenser vendors and participating hotels, however, those mountains of shampoo bottles are getting just a little bit smaller. Especially in four- and five-diamond hotels, resistance to using dispensers has been great. “Franchisors oftentimes don’t consider them as safe, secure and attractive,” says Ray Burger, president of Saint Charles, Mo.-based Pineapple Hospitality, a seller of amenity dispensers. Dispensers are becoming more common in three-star and lower properties. The perception has been that guests love to take home...

BROADVIEW, ILL.—Air Cycle Corp. introduces its EasyPak line of products to provide a simple way to recycle lamps, ballasts, and batteries, while complying with today’s changing regulations. Each container includes instructions printed in English and Spanish and one price includes shipping costs to the recycling center, recycling fees, and a certificate of recycling. The lamp boxes can hold straight fluorescent lamps up to 8 feet in length, u-shape fluorescent lamps, or high intensity discharge lamps. The battery container holds up to 55 pounds of dry cell batteries and the ballast container up to 55 pounds of non-PCB containing...

PHILADELPHIA—Aramark, the authorized concessionaire in several national parks, recently announced that the company, with the aid of national hotel supplier Green Suites International, has prevented more than five million amenity packages from entering landfills near several national park sites. Traditional one-ounce bottles of shampoo, lotions and soap bars have been replaced with an amenity dispenser program, created by Upland, Calif.-based Green Suites. The program provides a sanitary, safe and cost-effective way to preserve the environment while pleasing hotel guests with an unlimited amount of natural, high quality personal care products. “Its been the right thing to do...

NATIONAL REPORT—The next time you think about throwing away a fluorescent lamp, think twice. Fluorescents contain a small amount of hazardous material—mercury. In fact, it is the mercury that conducts the charge that produces light. When disposed of improperly, the mercury can cause great harm to not only the environment, but to every link in the food chain—humans included. As of November 2004, according to a report released by the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers, 70 percent of the mercury lamps used by businesses were not being recycled. Throughout the United States, regulations vary on proper disposal of fluorescent...