On April 22, 2021, in celebration of Earth Day, we are proud to introduce our new global 3Rs department. The 3Rs department, whose name comes from the circular economy principles ‘Reduce – Reuse – Recycle’, is responsible for segregating, weighing and analyzing waste. It was developed to help us solve this problem, and help us reach our goal of being waste-free by 2025.
As of 2015, approximately 6300 metric tons of plastic waste had been generated, around 9% of which had been recycled, 12% was incinerated, and 79% was accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. Waste has a negative impact on the environment, climate change and public health. When wildlife can’t discern the difference between what is waste and what is food, they inevitably consume the waste and can’t properly process it. This doesn’t tell the whole story, however. Waste can have direct and indirect impacts on local communities that live next to or close by a waste dump.
Last year, we successfully removed all single-use plastics from our inventory in the midst of a global pandemic, a goal we set out for ourselves in 2018. As we continue to push forward and learn more about what it takes to move towards a circular economy, we now understand the need for properly managing and disposing of our waste. As part of our 2030 agenda, Iberostar is committed to being waste-free by 2025, a commitment that requires a department dedicated to ensuring that happens.
3Rs teams will gradually be formed at each of our hotels and resorts, as we will centralize waste management from all areas of the hotel under one specific and specialized team. These teams will be formed by hotel staff and their key function is to support a system of continuous improvement in the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste by analyzing the waste generated in each area. Recommendations will be made and shared continuously with the hotel management to improve processes.
As we continue to reflect on the importance of our planet on Earth Day, we want to celebrate the newly-formed department helping us protect it.
