• The transition to a circular model in the hotel industry requires strong cross-sector and public–private collaboration, along with the development of systemic conditions to scale effectively.
• The new white paper identifies five areas of action to advance circularity: procurement, operations, the built environment, corporate culture, and circular destinations. 

This week, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, Circle Economy and UN Tourism presented the report ‘Towards circular hospitality: Transforming the tourism system’. This document examines the challenges facing the hotel industry in the face of growing resource scarcity. Aimed at fostering collective conversation with key actors in each destination, this report highlights circular economy opportunities and strategies that enable competitiveness, improved efficiency and more responsible operations in the mid- to long-term.

It is estimated that tourist accommodation is responsible for 260 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year (1), a figure almost as high as the annual emissions of the whole of France. With around 70% of these emissions2 coming from the production, transport and disposal of the goods and services on which hotels depend, and which guests consume, purchasing and operational decisions can transform entire supply chains. Different circular economy strategies  — such as reverse logistics or prioritising repair and reuse over disposal — are crucial to reducing the sector's impact.

Challenges for the hotel industry

Hotels face multiple individual and systemic barriers. The report identifies ten key challenges, including: the lack of adequate recycling infrastructure in many tourist destinations, which means that waste separation in hotels does not reach its full potential; behavioural barriers, such as cultural change in behaviour in relation to climate change; the absence of a shared vision of circularity in the hospitality industry, which makes it difficult for sustainable solutions to scale beyond individual hotels or chains.

Success story: Iberostar Hotels and Resorts

In a context of systemic challenges, individual initiatives can help demonstrate what is possible and offer practical benchmarks for other actors in the value chain. The report draws on the experience of Iberostar, a hotel group with more than 100 hotels in 14 countries, to illustrate how some of these challenges are being addressed in day-to-day operations.

Iberostar's approach to circularity combines people, data and innovation. Driven by purpose and with commitment from leadership, the company has created teams dedicated to the 3Rs, with more than 250 professionals focused on waste separation, measurement and analysis. At the same time, it uses artificial intelligence tools in the kitchens of more than 60 hotels to monitor and reduce food waste, helping to better understand where losses occur and how they can be avoided.

In addition, efforts are being made to integrate circularity into purchasing decisions, hotel design, and the guest and employee experience, as well as daily operations. Together, these measures have contributed to a reduction of more than 80% in waste sent to landfill since 2021.

However, their experience also shows that progress requires support of actors, local infrastructure, policies and partnerships and that systemic circularity cannot be achieved through the individual actions of stakeholders across the value chain.

Five strategic opportunities for change
Built from insights and sectoral workshops, the white paper identifies five strategic areas for moving towards a circular economy:

1. Circular procurement: Engage suppliers to prioritise durable, reusable or biodegradable options, avoiding unnecessary materials.
2. Circular operations: Involve staff in the responsible use of resources such as water, and optimize menus.
3. Circular built environment: Design energy-efficient, durable and easy-to-dismantle buildings using bio-based materials and with renewable energy.
4. Circular business culture and experiences: Train managers and employees in circularity principles and raise awareness among guests to encourage responsible behaviour.
5. Circular destinations: Collaborate with local authorities, invest in nature restoration and support local circular initiatives.

Four years ago we embarked on an ambitious journey to reduce the waste we send to landfill and bring circularity into our operations. Not as a standalone project, but as a fundamental shift in how we run our business. It meant aligning internal strategic priorities, business objectives and incentives - we believe this is how systems change begins — not with one big decision, but with thousands of small choices aligned in the same direction. The transition to a circular hotel industry will require going beyond individual efforts and committing to collaborative actions in different areas to implement systemic change. Only in this way can we scale positive impact while strengthening the competitiveness and future of our sector

Gloria Fluxà

Vice-Chairman & Chief Sustainability Officer at Iberostar Group

References

(1) Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). (2023). Catalyzing value chain decarbonization: Corporate survey results (Rep.). Retrieved from: SBTi Website.

(2) Dhir, A., Talwar, S., Kaur, P., & Malibari, A. (2020). Food waste in hospitality and food services: A systematic literature review and framework development approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 270. doi:10.1016/j. jclepro.2020.122861

Click here to access the white paper