Greening the Supply Chain

christine — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:39:53 +0000

Each year, Marriott International and its owners spend about $10 billion annually buying products and services for its more than 3,200 hotels around the world. Recognizing this purchasing power, we’ve teamed up with our vendors to introduce these “greener” solutions at no extra cost:

Greener key cards. Marriott has “unlocked” the door to a greener hotel stay by purchasing 24 million key cards made of 50 percent recycled material, saving 66 tons of plastic from being dumped in the landfill.

Eco-pillows. Guests can sleep easy knowing that their pillows are “fighting” to save the planet. Marriott will begin replacing the 100,000 synthetic pillows that it purchases with those filled with material made from recycled bottles.

Coreless toilet paper. By the end of Q1 2010, 500 hotels will offer “coreless” toilet paper, thereby eliminating 2 million cores a year, saving about 119 trees, nearly 3 million gallons of water, and 21 tons of packaging waste annually. The new tissue is made of 20-40 percent recycled fiber.

Earth-friendly towels. Thanks to a unique manufacturing process, the one million towels Marriott purchases in North America don’t need to be pre-washed, saving six million gallons of water.

Recycled pens. The 47 million pens that Marriott purchases for its guest and meeting rooms in the U.S. and Canada are made of 75% recycled material.

Low VOC Paint. Marriott buys nearly one million gallons of paint that are low in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), which are safer and less polluting.

Biodegradable laundry bags. In the Middle East and Europe, more than 100 hotels purchase 43 tons of biodegradable plastic bags which disintegrate in two to five years, if not recycled and reused first.

Laundry detergent. At our hotels in Central Europe, we use a laundry detergent that cuts the amount of phosphates released into waste water by approximately 100,000 kg (220,000 lbs.).

Source: Marriott

Greener key cards

Marriott has “unlocked” the door to a greener hotel stay by purchasing 24 million key cards made of 50 percent recycled material, saving 66 tons of plastic from being dumped in the landfill.

Eco-pillows

Guests can sleep easy knowing that their pillows are “fighting” to save the planet. Marriott will begin replacing the 100,000 synthetic pillows that it purchases with those filled with material made from recycled bottles.

Coreless toilet paper

By the end of Q1 2010, 500 hotels will offer “coreless” toilet paper, thereby eliminating 2 million cores a year, saving about 119 trees, nearly 3 million gallons of water, and 21 tons of packaging waste annually. The new tissue is made of 20-40 percent recycled fiber.

Earth-friendly towels

Thanks to a unique manufacturing process, the one million towels Marriott purchases in North America don’t need to be pre-washed, saving six million gallons of water.

Recycled pens

The 47 million pens that Marriott purchases for its guest and meeting rooms in the U.S. and Canada are made of 75% recycled material.

Low VOC Paint

Marriott buys nearly one million gallons of paint that are low in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), which are safer and less polluting.

Biodegradable laundry bags

In the Middle East and Europe, more than 100 hotels purchase 43 tons of biodegradable plastic bags which disintegrate in two to five years, if not recycled and reused first.

Laundry detergent

At our hotels in Central Europe, we use a laundry detergent that cuts the amount of phosphates released into waste water by approximately 100,000 kg (220,000 lbs.).