Island Shangri-La Hong Kong -
A Hotel's Perspective on Environmental Excellence
The First ISO 14001 Certified Hotel in Asia Pacific Region
Environmental pollution may not be the first words to enter your mind when you think of a five star deluxe hotel. Pollution prevention can be considered contradictory to the luxury services provided by the hotel. But this did not stop Island Shangri-La Hong Kong (ISL) from committing itself to the pursuit of environmental management and certification of ISO 14001.
"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink"
ISL is the first hotel in the Asian Pacific region to obtain ISO 14001 certification which is the international standard for excellence in environmental protection. According to Mr. Philippe Caretti, Hotel Manager of ISL and Environmental Coordinator for the Shangri-La International Management Group, all the staff of ISL are encouraged to embrace the philosophy of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycled and Rethink". Mr. Caretti stated that every employee in ISL knows what their respective responsibilities are in order to comply with 100 Best Practices and become environmental friendly. "Every person in the Hotel has his or her own role for protecting the environment. For example, the General Manager will be responsible for the overall Environmental Management System (EMS) authorization; the two EMS Managers take on the role of implementing the environmental protection policies and cascade the message throughout the organization to ensure every staff know what they can contribute towards the EMS. Also, we must make constant improvement in environmental management. If not, we will lose the certification of ISO 14001 as re-evaluations are held every six months." said Mr. Caretti.
Apart from financial savings of HK$1.5 million over the past two years, commitment to the community is the main driving force for ISL to take environmental awareness and pursue the ISO 14001.
Road To Environmental Improvement
Since 1993, ISL has already made response to environmental awareness by producing an Environmental Policy Document with the focus being on staff awareness and the implementation of environmental Best Practices. The 100 Best Practices cover five areas, namely, Offices, Housekeeping, Laundry, Food & Beverage and Kitchen. On completion of the Initial Environmental Review on ISL's environmental management in 1996, ISl appointed the expertise of the Hong Kong Productivity Council in the full development and implementation of an Environmental Management System to meet the requirements of ISO 14001, namely the Compliance With the Legal and Other Requirements, Prevention of Pollution and Continual Improvement. In May 1997, ISL achieved certification to ISO 14001, just eight months after the Standard was published.
Compliance With Legal Requirements
In addition to implementing an internal Environmental Policy, ISL has to comply with the statutory requirements on environmental protection for the hotel industry set by the government. There are several areas that different Ordinances cover, such as Water Pollution Control, Water Disposal, Air Pollution, Dangerous Goods and Radiation etc. In order to fulfill the commitment to pollution prevention, ISL has also developed Emergency Preparedness Measurements to ensure that there is adequate response to pollution incidents should they occur.
Environmental Protection In Everyday Operation
It is not really an easy task for ISL to strike a balance between environmental improvement and five star deluxe hotel service. But ISL's genuine desire to reduce adverse environmental impacts without sacrificing five star service can be seen by taking a glance on its everyday operation, even the slightest aspects. "For the aesthetics of the Hotel, we use normal light bulbs for crystal chandeliers in every guest room while we have changed to using energy saving light bulbs in corridors, bathrooms and bedside table lamps. We also provide guests with four bathroom towels but we have an energy saving signage inside the bathroom to give our guests an option to have their towels reused when they place the towels back onto the rack. Because of guests consciousness towards environmental protection, 70 to 90 kilos of washing and laundry are then saved. In addition, biodegradable soaps are sent back to a chemical company for recycling after use. Water restrictors are installed in all guest room showers. Cleaned laundry is returned to guests in rattan baskets to reduce unnecessary packaging. Cloth laundry and shopping bags are provided for guests to use. Piping is insulated to reduce that loss. Even worn-out towels are used as linen for cleaning by staff. All these changes resulted in a reduction in energy and water consumption of 10.7% and 15.2% respectively from 1994 to 1996." Mr. Caretti elaborated.
Environmental Protection Difficulties
Among different environmental aspects, Mr. Caretti believed that reduction of waste is more difficult to achieved as compared with conservation of energy. "We can perform energy saving works by using meters and water restrictors, but we cannot control the outside factors such as the degree of environmental awareness of both the guests and the suppliers".
Enhancing Environmental Awareness
"In order to increase the environmental awareness of our suppliers, we write letters to them and tell them that we are active advocates of environmental protection. We ask local suppliers to put pressure on overseas suppliers to pay more attention on environmental packaging. As a matter of fact, we now choose to use Mobil Oil, for our limousine fleet and boiler, and spent HK$3.5 million per year simply because Mobil is the first oil company in Hong Kong to be certified to ISO 14001. This demonstrates the fact that we welcome environmentally friendly suppliers.
"For the guests, we convey the message of environmental protection to them wherever they are in the Hotel. We have non-smoking floors for accommodation and non-smoking areas in restaurants.
ISL also wants to have environmentally friendly staff, therefore it provides environmental training for existing and new staff through Best Practices, Green Tours and video presentations. Information regarding environmental "Best Practices" is communicated on a daily basis by department heads. Staff are encouraged to seek ways in which they can do their jobs in a more environmentally favourable manner. The Hotel also puts posters from Hong Kong Productivity Council and Environmental Protection Department everywhere in the Hotel so as to maintain environmental awareness of the staff. From time to time, ISL organizes Green activities outside the Hotel for the staff. For example, ISL's staff cleaned beached in Lantau Island, participated on tree planting activities in outlying islands and donated a large sum of money to Mai Po Worldwide Fund For Nature in the past.
"Value-Added" Benefits Of the Certification
Being the first hotel in Asia-Pacific to be certified is, of course, a great honour but there are other benefits that were generated from the certification. "Staff morale is boosted as the achievement makes employees feel very proud to be a member of the ISL family. Since we are an environmentally friendly hotel, our sales team have an extra advantage on generating more business from an increasingly green conscious population. A positive image of ISL will also be rated as a result of the certification," said Mr. Caretti.
Future Objective
Lastly, Mr. Caretti stressed on the important of spreading the message, not only in the hotel industry alone, but across all industries; in order to augment the momentum in environmental protection. To achieve this objective, ISL is willing to share its experience on pursuing ISO 14001 with its counterparts and enterprises in other industries.
"ISL is happy to share our know-how with other hotels or industries in Hong Kong in the pursuit of ISO 14001," said Mr. Caretti. "We will continuously make improvements to maintain our environmental excellence not only because of our immediate benefits but to protect the natural assets of our future generations to come. This responsibility requires everyone's participation and contribution and we are delighted to be part of this movement."
Mr. Philippe Caretti
Hotel Manager
