29 Sep 2014 | By Sun International
The Table Bay Hotel Is Big on Green
On the 19th September 2014, South Africa celebrates its annual Recycling Day. The nationwide initiative, which falls during Clean-Up Week SA, was launched to encourage South Africans to reduce, re-use and recycle in order to contribute to a cleaner, greener and healthier environment.
At the forefront of green consciousness, The Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town seeks to make every day recycling day and has embarked on an exciting campaign to inspire recycling amongst its employees, as well as set an example of good practice for travellers and businesses that are looking to take steps to reduce their impact on the environment.
Recycling benchmarks
Since June last year, the hotel - which boasts the best address in Cape Town - has recycled in excess of 3 tons of cardboard, almost 2 tons of plastic, and seven-and-a-half tons of glass. The total amount of waste that was recycled in this period amounted to 12.4 tons of waste. Add in e-waste, scrap metal and paper, and the Table Bay recycled a total of 15.9 tons of waste!
While waste management is not new to the operating agenda of the Cape Town hotel , and forms a vital component of the overall environmental management system - including its specially formed environmental committee - The Table Bay plans to continue improving the proportion of its recyclable waste and looks forward to significantly increased recycling figures next year.
Waste management strategies
Much of the waste created in hotels stems from both food and beverage handling (generating materials such as packaging and food waste, aluminium cans, glass bottles, corks and cooking oils), or from the housekeeping department (creating waste such as cleaning materials and plastic packaging). Besides initiating measures to deal with these issues, such as waste separation, The Table Bay further reduces waste by running towel and linen reuse programmes.
Guests enjoying the 5-star Cape Town accommodation are invited - at their discretion - to hang their towels back on the rack for reuse, or not to have their bed linen changed every day. This can save enormous quantities of water, energy, detergent and, of course, the packaging that ends up as waste.
Recycling week at The Table Bay Hotel
During Recycling Week in September, The Table Bay aims to remind people, be they staff or guests visiting the Cape Town accommodation , of the importance of waste awareness and highlight the impact that waste can have on the environment. This initiative will see Table Bay employees each bringing a seedling to work to be planted and nurtured in the hotel's renewable garden, with prizes awarded to the best grower among the staff.
The Table Bay will also be implementing a revitalised campaign that will communicate resource-efficient lifestyle advice and highlight the impact of environmental savings in a more accessible way. The social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling are far-reaching. Less energy is used when recycled materials are included in manufacturing processes.
Recycling benefits the South African economy in many ways. Not only does it decrease the necessity to import raw materials, it also increases opportunities for job creation and alleviates poverty; there's less litter, more landfill space and a greater sense of environmental pride.