Sudima going plastic free
In May 2018, Sudima Hotels & Resorts announced it will become the first hotel chain in New Zealand to phase out all single-use plastics.
The group, which has four hotels, is aiming to establish industry benchmarks on single-use plastics by working with its suppliers to source alternative packaging options and reduce waste from items such as: bottled water by installing filters with hot, cold and sparkling water in all bar areas and removing other items such as plastic stirrers, water cups and plastic wrapping.
In a first step towards our single-use plastic free 2020 goal, it recently became the first group of hotels in New Zealand to discontinue using plastic straws – eliminating an estimated 52,000 straws each year from going to landfill, which is the equivalent of 38 times the height of Auckland’s Sky Tower. It now offers paper straws for guests on request.
Vedika Jhunjhnuwala, recently appointed as Environment and Social Advocate for Sudima Hotels has grown up in the hospitality sector and is passionate about ensuring the industry puts people and the environment first in its business operations.
“Imagine what our world would be like if we all chose to reduce or ban single-use plastics. At Sudima Hotels, we abide by the philosophy of leaving the world in a better position than we found it and aim to apply this to the operation of our hotels so it’s only natural that we set this goal for ourselves," says Vedika.
“Our journey is not just about Sudima. We are calling on the industry to collaborate with us and work together. We are keen to establish what the industry benchmark looks like for reducing or eliminating single-use plastics. It can be overwhelming when thinking about making a big change like this one, but by setting a target and making small changes every day, we hope to set an example so that other organisations will follow suit.”
