JUMEIRAH, DUBAI — Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group International Limited is a Hong Kong investment and management group focused on luxury hotels, resorts, and residences. The Mandarin Oriental brand emcompasses 36 hotels in 24 countries.
Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai is the closest luxury beachfront resort in downtown. It is one of Mandarin Oriental’s first properties in the Middle East and borders the Arabian Gulf. It offers 256 resident rooms, 10 meeting rooms, and six different bars and lounges.
In October 2020, Mandarin Oriental Group launched its Naturally Better campaign to highlight their sustainability initiatives and how their properties have a positive impact on the environment, local communities, and guests. Mandarin Oriental is committed to contributing to the communities where they operate and vowed to responsibly manage their environmental impacts and social commitments.
Under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Mandarin Oriental Group set high environmental goals encompassing carbon intensity reduction and waste intensity reduction.
Each Mandarin Oriental has their own unique environmental initiative and Mandarin Oriental Dubai chose to focus on sustainable sourcing and disposal of organic waste. In February 2021, Mandarin Oriental Dubai installed an LFC-300 biodigester which has helped their facility achieve CRS goals.
Naturally better for the planet
One of the guiding principles at Mandarin Oriental is ‘Acting with responsibility.’ As part of their global sustainable initiatives, the Naturally Better plan was enacted. The plan focuses on the:
- Planet: to address broader plenary problems such as climate change and scarcity of resources
- Community: promote local economies
- Colleagues: embed sustainable values and practices
- Guests: enable guest to participate in making a positive impact
Food waste is a prominent problem for the hospitality industry and largely impacts the supply chain. All discarded food wastes the energy and resources utilized in growing, processing, manufacturing, and transporting of food. The hotel chain prevents food waste through initiatives such as colleague educational campaigns, donation of edible excess food, and diverting non edible food waste from landfills.
Mandarin Oriental recognized that waste monitoring is a key aspect of their waste management, because what gets measured gets managed. From Mandarin Oriental’s 2020 Sustainability Report, “Waste figures are recorded by each property on a monthly basis and two waste metrics – waste intensity and waste diversion rate – are monitored at both the property and Group level. Best practices are shared across hotels through our internal platforms…driving improvements in our waste management efforts.”
Rising waste management costs in Dubai
Mandarin Oriental Dubai met with RAK Waste Management services in 2020 to explore solutions for the proper disposal of food waste. Initially, they were exploring options and had not yet designated a budget or plans. After a demonstration of the LFC biodigester, the sustainability team at Mandarin Oriental Dubai became highly interested and initiated an internal request to implement the biodigester as part of their sustainability efforts. In February 2021, an LFC-300 biodigester was installed in Mandarin Oriental Dubai’s loading bay where the garbage is managed onsite.
Until then, there had been zero costs for waste dumping in Dubai. Companies would have to pay only for waste collection and transportation. Effective in 2022, Dubai implemented tipping charges where an additional Dh26 (AED) was charged for every 1.1 cubic meter bin on top of the previously paid charges. The LFC biodigester at Mandarin Oriental Dubai was a long term solution that came at the right time.
On Mandarin Oriental Dubai’s sustainability website, they announce they have “[invested] behind a liquid food biodigester that will allow [them] to sustainably break down and compost organic food waste.”
The LFC-300 biodigester allows all the food waste at Mandarin Oriental Dubai to be digested onsite. Previously, food waste was stored in a chiller until it was collected by the trash company. By eliminating the need to use the chiller, the LFC biodigester has helped save energy and reduce the amount of maintenance effort. The sustainability team at Mandarin Oriental Dubai is happy that their initial investment in a food waste solution has resulted in lowered costs for waste management.
