Futouris project against single-use plastic in Hilton Hotels UAE starts with audits and workshops

Together against single-use plastic in Hilton Hotels UAE

In a pioneering initiative, Futouris, schauinsland-reisen, Hilton Hotels UAE and Travel Without Plastic have joined forces to declare war on single-use plastic in the United Arab Emirates. The declared aim is to significantly reduce the use of single-use plastic in Hilton Hotels in the United Arab Emirates.

Audits reveal potential and challenges for savings

In the first phase of the project, three pilot hotels in the Hilton chain in the UAE were audited in October 2022 in accordance with the SUP-Free standard.

The audits determined the actual consumption and use of single-use plastic in the respective establishments. In addition to the obvious savings potential for plastic cups or bottles, for example, hidden sources of plastic such as plastic-coated paper cups and plastic fibers in tea bags were also identified. After the audit, the hotels received an overview of the ten most frequently consumed single-use plastic items, ranked according to both the quantity consumed and the costs incurred per year.

Workshops on reducing single-use plastic for hotel teams

Collective efforts are required to achieve the project objectives: awareness and interest in the issue of plastic pollution among hotel teams as well as the enthusiasm and motivation of employees to implement related measures in hotel operations are key to the success of the project.

An important part of the project was therefore the training of over 20 employees from operational hotel areas on the reduction of single-use plastic.

In exciting workshops, the participants were able to exchange experiences, identify common challenges and develop solutions for possible measures based on initial results from the SUP audits carried out previously. The workshop topics ranged from integrating the supply chain to raising employee awareness and communicating with guests. The workshops thus formed the basis for the subsequent implementation of efficient reduction measures.