HOUSTON—Benchmark, a global hospitality company, is addressing one of the most critical issues—the approximately eight million tons of plastic products that annually pollute our oceans, rivers and coastlines, endangering wildlife, littering beaches and releasing toxins into the water. Many of those products, known as “single use plastics,” comprise a significant part of those eight million tons and they are very heavily used by hotels and restaurants. Benchmark is initiating an ambitious program to reduce use of plastics in all 80 of its luxury hotels, resorts and conference centers, starting in 2019. The project, Single Use Plastic Reduction, will combine...

PARIS—Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, a leading brand within the AccorHotels Group, announces the release of its 2018 Sustainability Report Update, “Made with Sustainability in Mind”. This report covers the brand’s strategies and actions to continuously improve its sustainability performance throughout the years of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Previous Sustainability Reports were issued in 2012 and 2015. The 2018 Sustainability Update provides insight as to how Swissôtel tackles areas which are most important to its internal and external stakeholders based on materiality assessments conducted by the brand’s sustainability management team and third-party experts. The report includes updated performance data, recent case...

ODESSA, FLA.—Green Lodging News welcomes BioBag Americas, Inc. to its Green Product & Service Directory in the “Cleaning & Maintenance/Bags” category. BioBag compostable liners can alleviate cleanliness issues that come alongside collecting organic waste and reduce landfill tipping fees. BioBags: • Reduce labor costs, keeping containers clean; • Offer a very high penetration barrier against bacteria, viruses, spores and mold; • Are Star sealed for extra strength and durability; • Manufactured in the USA with resin sourced from Italy; • Non-GMO Project Verified; • Certified Compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute, meet the US Standard ASTM D6400; and are available in different sizes. Call (727) 789-1646...

LAS VEGAS—Caesars Entertainment, in collaboration with Clean the World, a leader in global health, announced the successful distribution of 2,500 pounds of soap to 14,000 children in Zambia. Team members from Caesars Entertainment and its affiliates hand-delivered the supplies last week to help reduce the spread of disease. “Our relationship with Clean the World exemplifies how we put our PEOPLE PLANET PLAY commitment into action,” said Jan Jones Blackhurst, Caesars Entertainment Executive Vice President, Public Policy & Corporate Responsibility. “Each year, Caesars collects and donates more than 53 tons of soap and shampoo from hotel rooms, so I am proud that our team...

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.—Six months after soft opening in Colorado Springs, the 176-room SCP hotel there is enjoying “off the charts” reviews according to Ken Cruse, CEO of Soul Community Planet, LLC, the parent company of SCP Hotels. The renovation of what once was a Knights Inn and other branded properties is attracting travelers and locals with its eco-industrial vibe and features such as the SCP fitness center. The SCP Hotel Colorado Springs is the first of several green, community-focused hotels planned by Soul Community Planet. The next one will open in Redmond, Ore. Cruse says he and his core team had been...

ODESSA, FLA.—Green Lodging News has added Quipworks Inc. to the “Recycling/Glass Bottle Crushers” category of its Green Product & Service Directory. The GLSand is a compact glass bottle crusher that reduces bottles in volume by 10:1 to a safe to handle sand like product. The machine is designed for waste reduction, cost reduction and sustainability for the food, hospitality, and leisure Industries. The GLSand will provide a positive impact on a property’s waste reduction goals, and create a usable commodity for landscaping, pavement patching, pool filtration and other uses. The GLSand is quiet and easy to operate. It offers a...

LOS ANGELES—Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Stevie Van Zandt and Jackson Browne joined Plastic Pollution Coalition in calling for a boycott of all Marriott International-owned hotels in response to their policy of using plastic containers for room service. Van Zandt and Browne are notable members of Plastic Pollution Coalition, a global alliance working toward a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans, animals, waterways, the ocean, and the environment. More than 8 million tons of plastic pollution enter the world’s oceans each year, harming animals and ecosystems. Toxic chemicals in plastic can leach from food containers...

BERKELEY, CALIF.—Claremont Club & Spa has launched a comprehensive food waste prevention program in partnership with Alameda County’s StopWaste agency and technology provider Leanpath. Leveraging a subsidy from StopWaste’s Smart Kitchen Initiative, the Claremont, a 103-year-old resort in the Oakland hills, will install Leanpath food waste tracking and analytics technology to understand what is being wasted and why, and to develop strategies to prevent it. “The Claremont understands that food waste is a major contributor to our carbon footprint,” said Sean Minton, Sustainability Initiatives Manager. “Leanpath will help us understand our operations in a data-driven and systematic way, using our new...

BROOMFIELD, COLO.—Vail Resorts, Inc. took major steps in its Commitment to Zero, as the company announced a long-term wind energy contract to purchase the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power 100 percent of its estimated FY 2019 North American operations by 2020. Additionally, Vail Resorts announced a partnership with Eco-Products to supply all its North American restaurants with compostable and recycled-content items and eliminate conventional single-use plastics, a process which will begin during the 2018-19 winter season. “As a growing company, deeply connected to the outdoors, we made a commitment last year to address our most pressing global and...

MAJORCA, SPAIN—Starting this year, the Majorca-based hotel chain Iberostar Hotels & Resorts will be replacing its traditional polyester uniforms with an alternative material made entirely from recycled plastic. Following exhaustive tests and trials, the new fabrics scored high on durability and comfort, and will be gradually introduced into the company’s complete portfolio of more than 120 hotels. The new uniforms will keep the iconic design created exclusively by Davidelfin for Iberostar Hotels & Resorts but, from now on, will be more sustainable thanks to the use of a fabric developed from recycled plastic bottles. With this initiative, the company will...