In the first study to shine a light on the entire environmental footprint of an international hotel chain, a leading hotelier has discovered that its food supply chain, not its sites, account for more than three quarters of its water footprint.
The surprise finding is part of a comprehensive
environmental footprint assessment by the world’s biggest hotel group,
Accor, which operates brands such as
Ibis,
Novotel and
Sofitel. The lifecycle analysis, the first of its kind in the hotel industry, also found that the bulk of the
waste generated by the group does not come from the running of its hotels, but from
building and revamping them.
Accor, which is sharing the full findings of the research with the rest of the hospitality industry via an open access platform, said the report would inform the group’s sustainability strategy in the future. It follows
another piece of independent research, published by the group last year, which shows the vast majority of hotel guests are concerned by sustainable development.
"We are now in a position to quantify, share openly and ultimately use to hone in on the most efficient and effective levers to build our corporate social and environmental responsibility strategy," said Accor ceo Denis Hennequin. "Our goal is to build sustainable development into the core of our group’s performance and embark it on a continuous improvement drive to reinvent hospitality for the long-term."
Working with consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers Accor began work on collating data to assess its environmental footprint in 2010. The study encompasses greenhouse gas emissions, energy and water consumption, water pollution and waste generation throughout lifecycles across the company.
Research findings
The research found that Accor consumes around 18 billion kilowatt hours of energy – enough to power a city the size of Cardiff – and the chain’s 4,200 hotels directly consume 75 per cent of the group’s total energy use.
The study also reveals that direct consumption of water by the hotel group – in bathrooms and kitchens, sprinklers and leaks – add up to just over 10 per cent of the total water footprint of the group, whereas water used in the
food supply chain accounts for about 86 per cent of the group’s water consumption impact.
The unexpected result is set to lead to a shake up of Accor’s food supply chain, with the group now looking to set up new channels with suppliers from "farm to table".
"This study has put us in a position to boost our efforts for the environment, and to focus on our main impacts and main areas for improvement," said Accor’s academies and sustainable development director, Sophie Flak. "The impacts we gauged also have economic and financial consequences, and managing those consequences is also pivotal to our group’s sustainable development."
The group said it would announce its new sustainable development strategy in the spring. The plan will for the first time include carbon reduction targets for the hotel chain.
Accor is sharing the methodology and findings of the footprint study with businesses and the general public via its free knowledge-sharing platform, Earth Guest.
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