HALLANDALE, FLA.—Since the very beginning, Groupe GM has been a pioneer within the amenities industry, creating the concept of branded amenities for hotels. Today, the group is celebrating Bienvenue, their first hotel amenity brand which is now over 45 years old, and simultaneously, the first collection of cosmetic products designed in France for the hotel industry specifically. Groupe GM’s founder Georges Marchand, self-taught and adventurous, embraced a brilliant commercial career: after having sold cars and exclusive books, he became sales director in a company specialized in artwork replication by great masters such as Renoir, Monnet and Picasso, especially for hotels. It was through his many meetings with...

FALLS CHURCH, VA.—The Recycling Partnership, a nonprofit organization that works with communities, companies, and governments to transform recycling programs, has released a new resource focusing on a specific type of recycling—drop-off sites. Forty-five percent of Americans don’t have access to curbside recycling, whether because of rural locations or multi-family housing structures. Many of these communities utilize drop-off sites in these situations to fill that gap in access. “The Partnership has worked with many communities to reduce contamination at drop-off sites,” says Cassandra Ford, Community Program Manager at The Recycling Partnership. “The Drop-Off Recycling Contamination Reduction Kit takes our proven anti-contamination...

SAN FRANCISCO—LOLIWARE, the SEA Technology creator, announced that they have developed the first seaweed pellet created from natural biomaterials to replace plastic at scale. The company has partnered with American manufacturer Sinclair and Rush to scale production with a leading plastic-free, high-performing seaweed straw for businesses of all sizes. This announcement is significant because it is the first U.S. production of onshore, seaweed-based product replacements and is an alternative to outsourcing plastics from China—a needed step toward reducing plastic in landfills and oceans. Seaweed captures 5 to 20 times more carbon than land-based forests per unit area, including permanently storing some of it...

LAS VEGAS—Las Vegas Sands announced it has expanded its flagship Sands Cares Accelerator program to Macao by welcoming local nongovernmental organization (NGO) Green Future to the three-year exclusive membership program that serves as a catalyst for greater nonprofit impact in the community. Green Future is the fifth nonprofit organization to join the Sands Cares Accelerator program, launched by Sands in 2017 to help fast-track rising organizations on the tipping point of making a leap in community impact. Through the three-year membership program, Sands creates longer-term relationships with nonprofits via extended funding, structured guidance and customized support rarely found with typical...

HUDSON VALLEY, NEW YORK—One of the hospitality industry’s most innovative new concepts is emerging in New York’s Hudson Valley--Moliving at Hurley House. Produced and operated by Moliving Inc., its ultra-luxury Units will be 399 square feet on the inside and will include deck space of 240 feet. With its 60 Units, Moliving at Hurley House will open this September. Moliving Units can either be “off the grid” while using solar panels with lithium battery technology to store energy or can be easily connected to the grid in a matter of minutes. According to Jordan Bem, CEO, and founder of Moliving,...

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—With a shared mission of eliminating plastic waste and providing safe, ultra-purified and great-tasting drinking water, Stockholm-based Bluewater, and Denver, Colorado-based FloWater announced their merger. The two corporations say the merger will help accelerate innovation of new drinking water purification products, drive expansion into new markets, and achieve economies of scale in manufacturing and supply chain efficiencies in a post-Covid world. Bluewater was founded in 2013 By Swedish environmental entrepreneur Bengt Rittri on the sale of his previous indoor air purification corporation, Blueair, to consumer goods giant Unilever. Today, Bluewater has grown into a global innovator of market leader water...

CHATSWORTH, CALIF.—Planet Green, a U.S.-based recycler and remanufacturer of printer cartridges, has launched a petition to gain public support to push state and federal officials to ban the sale and importation of generic non-recyclable printer cartridges in the United States. According to Planet Green, these cartridges, while commonly used today, present a multitude of environmental challenges. These cartridges are single-use, and unlike OEM cartridges that can be recycled several times over, generic cartridges cannot be recycled. They also do not meet the same standards as original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) cartridges, and at times may even infringe on OEM intellectual...

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—Every year, more than 300 billion plastic lids—1.5 million tons of plastic—are produced. Many of them end up as litter in the world’s oceans. A Swedish collaboration between three innovative companies at the forefront of sustainability—PulPac, Liplid and MAX Burgers—is now leading the way towards replacing the traditional plastic lid with a sustainable fiber-based alternative. As announced earlier, MAX Burgers, the first quick service restaurant chain in the world to label and compensate for the food’s impact on the environment, will start to roll out the Liplid in all their restaurants in Sweden this year. “This has been a fantastic project, where we...

Names: Sophia Lykke Title: Public Relations & CSR Manager Company: Club Med North America & Caribbean Years in Current Position: 7 months Years with Club Med: Almost 7 years Primary Responsibility: “For me, every week is different, depending on the project. Last week I was in the Dominican Republic looking at possible partnerships. On days working in Miami, I am fortunate to work with all our teams. There is not a typical day, but I am never working alone. I coordinate the collaborations between our teams internally.” Organization’s most significant accomplishment in global corporate responsibility: “There are many things we can cite but our company...

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND—International architecture and interiors practice Red Deer have designed The Alan Hotel in Manchester focused on experimentation, realness, and constant improvement while rejecting the pretentious and cradling the imaginative. The Alan was borne from a vision of wanting to do things differently—something experimental, fresh and with an emphasis on partnerships between artists, chefs, designers, and forward-thinkers. Situated opposite the Manchester Art Gallery, in the heart of the city, next to the vibrancy of Chinatown and the bustle of the central shopping district, The Alan is a unique six-story building with a pop-up mixed-use space, ground floor restaurant/cafe/bar, and 137 bedrooms. “The...