The Australian hospitality industry is well positioned to become a leader in environmental sustainability, and a new guide helps pubs achieve this.
Developed by the Australian Hotels Association South Australia (AHA|SA) and the state government’s Green Industries SA as well as sustainability consultants 2XE for the SA hospitality industry, the guide is relevant for any pub across Australia looking to become more environmentally sustainable.
Studies relied on by this guide have shown that the hospitality industry has a lot of room for improvement. For example,
- Up to 7K litres of water can be wasted (annually) by just one tap dripping at the rate of one drop per second
- On average, restaurants discard 23 per cent of purchased food
- Energy use can be reduced by as much as 50 per cent using lighting controls
- Up to 30 per cent more energy can be consumed by a poorly maintained HVAC system
This new guide empowers the hospitality industry to set fresh standards and lead the country in clean and green approaches by providing comprehensive resources to ensure the industry is in the best place to adopt practices that are environmentally sustainable.
Anna Moeller, CEO of AHA|SA said the guide was developed to support members become more sustainable as well as to discover the money saving opportunities when resources are used more effectively.
“This sustainability guide aims to tackle waste management by aligning industry thinking to avoid waste in the first place, followed by initiatives that focus on better practices, reusing and recycling, and finally, disposing of waste in more responsible ways,” she said.
“By looking at sustainable supply chains and sharing the success, our industry can encourage the extension of green practices and become an industry leader in this space.”
Nick Palousis, Managing Director of 2XE, is happy with the collaboration.
“In this guide, we have outlined the many opportunities for venues and hotels to reduce their impact on the environment and benefit the business by doing so.”
Businesses have already found success in these ideas, often coming up with creative solutions.
By looking at its environmentally sustainable options, owners of Watervale Hotel reduced food waste by creating a “Doggie Degustation” menu for dogs utilising animal parts that would otherwise have been discarded.
Similarly, the Maylands Hotel found that organic food waste comprised around 38 per cent of its general waste and decided to implement a waste management service. This change alone saves the hotel around $2,600 annually.
A copy of the free sustainability guide is available on the AHA|SA website.
