Six Senses focuses on sharing operational intelligence around sustainability towards eliminating plastic waste

As a pioneer in eliminating plastic waste since the 1990s, Six Senses has been on a journey to eliminate plastic from its properties, with the sharing of its Journey to Plastic Freedom Playbook webinar set to be held on 6 November 2024 for anyone working in the hospitality industry who wants to learn more, along with the playbook available to download online.

Six Senses, part of IHG Hotels & Resorts' luxury and lifestyle portfolio, operates 27 hotels and resorts with 40 properties currently in its development pipeline. It serves as a changemaker and maintains a leadership commitment to community, sustainability, emotional hospitality, wellness, and crafted experiences infused with quirkiness.

The Six Senses Journey to Plastic Freedom Playbook is designed to share operational intelligence with the wider hospitality industry. It offers 82 tried-and-tested solutions to plastic items in the four main areas of a hotel's operations: housekeeping, back of house, food and beverage, and spa.

This is part of IHG's larger goal of sharing how being environmentally and socially responsible can be successful without compromising on hospitality, efficient operations, profitability, an outstanding guest experience and high levels of satisfaction and engagement among colleagues. 

Empowering hotels towards reducing plastic waste

Following a successful plastic-free pilot at Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives in 2016, the brand commissioned a group-wide inventory of every plastic item. To its surprise, even though it eliminated tens of thousands of items, the numbers kept increasing. 

"We launched an education and awareness campaign which comprised six training modules. It opened the company's eyes to the plastic it hadn't 'seen' before. No item was too large or small to be nominated for elimination," said Mr Jeff Smith, Vice President of Sustainability of Six Senses.

Smith added that identifying items for elimination and researching better alternatives is one thing, but getting hosts to do without material is quite another. This has allowed the sustainability teams to make their lives easier and more efficient.

In addition, The Six Senses Journey to Plastic Freedom Playbook has been written and edited by Six Senses in-house sustainability leaders in partnership with industry stalwarts such as Rachel McCaffery, CEO of sustainable tourism consultancy Green Case, Ally Dragozet, CEO of marine consultancy Sea Going Green, Phil Bloomfield, Founder of communications agency Ready to Bloom and Jo Hendrickx, Founder of Travel Without Plastic.

"It can be overwhelming to face up to how much material you use, and the cost of plastic alternatives can add up," said Ms Rachel McCaffery. "But when compared to the cost that long-term plastic is extracting from wildlife and our own health, is it a change you really can't afford to make?"

She was also encouraged by the engagement of Six Senses guests and hosts. Some solutions, such as toothpaste tablets, were initially viewed with suspicion but quickly became guest favourites.

Sustainability on the rise

Sustainability has grown in interest over the past few years, with many more businesses adopting eco-friendly practices in various industries and sectors.

For instance, IndustryPlus, a Singapore-based furniture producer well-known for its contemporary design furniture and accessories, used Polypropylene (PP) and High-density polyethene (HDPE) plastics to make tables with materials sourced from food and drink packaging waste, hangers, and buckets.

In addition, Nandina REM, a company dedicated to decarbonising the aviation industry through a revolutionary approach to aircraft recycling, recovers high-quality materials from retired aircraft, such as carbon fibre and aluminium, which are then transformed into valuable resources for a greener future.

This, in turn, has allowed the same carbon fibre that once formed the wings of a passenger jet to be upcycled and form a part of a brand-new aircraft or even the casing for an electric vehicle battery.

Building on the momentum, Six Senses continues to establish itself as a pioneer in eliminating more complex and challenging plastic items while continuing its journey towards implementing alternatives and collaborating with purchasing teams and suppliers to develop workable solutions.