Today, 17 May, is Word Recycling Day, a date ringed in red by UNESCO and which takes on more importance every year, with additional countries joining the initiative. And businesses too, just like Vincci Hoteles, where sustainability forms part of the company’s philosophy and its way of life, as can be seen from this website [link in Spanish] where we’ve set out our goals, statistics and Corporate Social Responsibility reports covering recent years.
In addition to energy saving and social integration, among other goals, recycling is one of the areas upon which we’ve placed special emphasis. During 2016, we recycled 30% more glass than in 2015; 111% more packaging and 13% more paper and cardboard. These increases have followed a clear upward trend at Vincci Hoteles since we began correctly separating waste.
In total, in 2016, at our 40 hotels, we recycled 960,238 kg of organic waste; 230,834 kg of paper and cardboard; 22,904 kg of glass and 273,605 kg of packaging.
To help us with this vital work, we count on collaborations with various different organisations, nationally, regionally and locally. Fundación SEUR, Madre Coraje, Ataretaco and Femarec are just some of these.
Fundación SEUR: “Bottle tops for a new life®’
Vincci Hoteles works with Fundación SEUR [link in Spanish] on their “Tapones para una nueva vida®” (“Bottle tops for a new life”) project, an important environmental and social initiative, which every employee of our hotel chain is aware of and committed to.
The results of the project inspire us to continue with our involvement. While in 2015, 662,000 bottle tops were collected, the equivalent of 1,324 kg of plastic, in 2016, the figure grew by 30%, reaching 860,000 bottle tops and 1,720 kg of plastic recycled. In total, in the past two years, we’ve managed to recycle more than one and a half million bottle tops.
And what does that mean in terms of reducing emissions? With this recycling effort, we avoided the emission of 2,580 kg of CO2. Easy and effective, isn’t it?
Madre Coraje (Andalusia)
In our hotels in Andalusia (Málaga, Granada, Cádiz, Seville, Almería) we work with Madre Coraje [link in Spanish] (‘Mother Courage’), an organisation that recycles printer cartridges and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), as a means of raising finance to help less-favoured people in less developed countries and Spain, and to help the environment.
Since 2013, we’ve recycled more than 700 toner cartridges and more than 2,000 WEEE items with them.
ATARETACO (Tenerife)
At Vincci Selección La Plantación del Sur 5* and Vincci Tenerife Golf 4*, our two hotels in Tenerife, we work with ATARECO [link in Spanish], an organisation that collects and recycles the waste generated in our hotels.
Since 2013, we’ve recycled more than 1,000 kg of paint and varnish waste; 226 kg of toner waste; 2,777 kg of packaging containing the remains of toxic substances; 52 kg of metallic packaging; nearly 6,000 kg of WEEE; and more than 200 kg of fluorescent tubes, batteries and accumulators.
FEMAREC (Barcelona)
At Vincci Gala 4*, Vincci Mae 4*, Vincci Marítimo 4* and Vincci Bit 4*, our hotels in Barcelona, we work with FEMAREC, [link in Spanish] an organisation devoted to collecting and recycling waste plastics placed in the ‘yellow’ container.
In 2015, we recycled a total of 1,374 pieces of this type of packaging, and in 2016 the total reached 4,902 pieces, an increase that clearly demonstrates the work our team in Barcelona is doing.
Other sustainability initiatives from Vincci Hoteles
These four initiatives are just four examples of a whole range of actions taken by Vincci Hoteles in favour of sustainability.
What’s more, just a couple of weeks ago, Vincci Hoteles joined Ecovidrio’s ‘Great Chain’ project, under which we committed to recycling all the glass used in our hotels. As we said, it’s another initiative of the many we carry out in order to care for the environment, and for which our president, Rufino Calero, received the Sustainability and Quality Medal for Merit in Tourism.
Recycle. Live. Vincci.