H Dubai is a luxury hotel located in the heart of Dubai. The five star hotel has 236 rooms and suites, restaurants, a night club, and offers in room dining and catering services. There are 11 dining outlets offering Indian, Middle Eastern, and Pan Asian African cuisine.
H Dubai deems environmental impact as an essential element of their core business function. A crucial part of H Dubai’s growth strategy has been to engage customers, suppliers, and partners in sustainability initiatives. Environmental targets include food waste reduction and acknowledgement of environmental actions.
The LFC biodigester was installed in late October 2022 to help the H Dubai achieve their environmental initiatives. In January 2023, the Emirates Green Building Council awarded H Dubai the Green Key Certification.
The H Dubai Environmental Targets for 2022
Sustainability within H Dubai is defined as “carrying out its business in line with our company’s values of integrity, quality, innovation, recognition, continuous growth, and teamwork, and in a responsible, resourceful, and lasting manner, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of stewardship and the responsible management of resource use.”
The H Dubai embraces an eco-project based on 5 interconnected pillars: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reduce Water Consumption, Energy Conservation, Local Care & Fair Trade. These elements are intertwined with the aim of improving the environment and projecting the practices to the rest of the world.
Other environmental targets include:
- Achieve sustainability and environmental awards
- Maintain a 2% reduction in food waste per year
- Reduce carbon footprint per occupied room by 7%
The H Dubai set their sights on Green Key Certification as a way to affirm their commitment to the environment.
Green Key Certification
The Emirates Green Building Council is a non-profit organization that promotes and educates on sustainability in building environments. It is the official Green Building Council for the UAE and endorsed by the World Green Building Council.
Green Key Certification is a voluntary eco-label certification that demonstrates leading standing for excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operations within the tourism industry. To receive Green Key certification, qualified properties must meet a strict series of sustainability criteria which cover both the operational activities and energy consumption.
Hotels must adhere to the guideline as established by defined Green Key Criteria. There are thirteen criteria areas which include environmental management, waste, food and beverage, corporate social responsibility, and more.
Feeding the biodigester and being certified higher
The current Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Manager at H Dubai previously worked at The Cove Rotana Resort, Ras Al Khaimah which installed an LFC biodigester in 2015. After moving to the H Dubai, Catherine Malalay recognized the potential of implementing an LFC biodigester at the H Dubai. The installation of an onsite food waste digester would help reduce long term waste management costs, divert food waste from the landfill, and improve operations. In addition, the machine automatically weighs the amount of food waste so that the management can track how they are reaching goals of reduction in waste.
Power Knot MEA and the H Dubai installed the LFC-100 biodigester in October 2022. The machine digested 1,830 kg of food waste in two months and as a result diverted 3.9 tonnes of carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
In January 2023, the H Dubai was awarded the coveted Green Key Certification by the Emirates Green Building Council.
“As a Green Key Certification recipient, we are proud to say that our efforts are being recognised nationally, thereby encouraging us to keep moving in the right direction and fulfilling our responsibility towards the environment,” Sophie Blondel, General Manager at The H Dubai said.
