The Camby, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, is a casual luxury lifestyle collection hotel located in the heart of Phoenix’s Camelback Corridor, Arizona’s premier commercial and financial district. Surrounded by the scenic beauty of Camelback Hall and just one mile from the Arizona Biltmore Golf Course, the hotel offers rooms with either stunning mountain or city views.
Sustainability from top down
Despite the lack of stringent environmental regulations in Arizona, The Camby has taken a proactive approach to sustainability, driven by its leadership. This top-down commitment aligns with Marriott’s broader sustainability goals, which aim to reduce the environmental footprint across its portfolio by 2025, based on a 2016 baseline. Marriott’s goals include reducing water intensity by 15%, carbon intensity by 30%, and waste to landfill by 45%, while also cutting food waste by 50% and achieving 30% renewable electricity use.
In line with these ambitious goals, The Camby underwent a redesign, incorporating automated controls to significantly reduce energy consumption while maintaining its modern, chic atmosphere. This initiative has yielded measurable results at the hotel, with a carbon footprint of 21½ kg CO2e per room night and a water usage of 644 liters per room night.
The Camby has embraced several eco-friendly practices to enhance its sustainability efforts. These initiatives include offering electric vehicle charging stations to promote greener transportation, installing compactors to reduce waste volume and streamline collection processes, replacing plastic with aluminum water bottles and soda cans, and implementing advanced food waste management solutions to minimize the environmental impact of their operations. Together, these practices reflect The Camby’s commitment to reducing its ecological footprint.
Adopting the LFC biodigester
After evaluating several waste management options, The Camby installed an LFC-100 biodigester in their kitchen in April 2024. This on-site food waste solution was selected for its ability to manage food scraps efficiently while aligning with the hotel’s sustainability goals.
Primarily used by the food and beverage team, the LFC biodigester processes prep scraps and banquet leftovers, reducing the amount of waste sent to the compactor and landfill. In its peak month of operation, the LFC biodigester processed over 1850 kg (4000 lb) of food waste and diverted over 7 metric tonnes of CO₂e from the atmosphere. According to the EPA, this impact is equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 128 trees grown over 10 years.
A commitment beyond The Camby
The Camby’s adoption of the LFC biodigester is part of a broader effort to align with Marriott’s overarching sustainability goals, which focus on minimizing the environmental footprint across its global portfolio. The Camby’s proactive sustainability efforts reflect Marriott’s company-wide commitment to responsible hospitality, ensuring that environmental stewardship is embedded into the core of its operations. By integrating solutions like the LFC biodigester, The Camby not only contributes to Marriott’s global sustainability targets but also leads by example within Arizona’s hospitality industry. These efforts help drive Marriott’s vision of a more sustainable future—one that balances exceptional guest experiences with meaningful environmental responsibility.
