MHR Pledges to End Use of Single-Use Plastics

Millennium Hotels and Resorts (MHR) has pledged it will end the use of single-use plastics across its six hotels in Singapore, ahead of World Environment Day on 5 June.

In joining the global fight against plastics, the hotel group will not only help save the environment by cutting out over 260kg of plastics per month, it will also see savings of nearly $500,000 a year that would have otherwise been spent on plastics.

The Singapore hotels – Orchard Hotel, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, M Hotel, Studio M (pictured), M Social and Copthorne King’s Hotel – will phase out the use of disposable plastics by June next year (2019) and opt for greener alternatives. This includes plastic straws, stirrers, plastic bags, cutlery and toiletry bottles in over 2,600 rooms.

Currently, M Social has replaced plastic straws with paper ones and are using environmentally-friendly packaging and cutlery for their ‘Order & Grab’ service.

The other hotels in the group are following suit to replace plastic straws and stirrers for room service and at their restaurants. In addition, Orchard Hotel and Studio M are also planning to use dispensers in hotel rooms for toiletries for their guests.

Mr Lee Richards, Vice President of Operations (South East Asia), MHR, said, “While the hotel industry benefits from the convenience of using plastic products, we see that it has long-lasting adverse impact on the environment. We have been committed to reducing our carbon footprint and promoting energy consumption, and we now want to further these efforts, and eliminate the use of single-use plastics in our hotels.”

MHR is also asking guests to play a role. For example, the group is planning to roll out green meeting packages, where water jugs are provided in place of plastic water bottles, and notepads are made from recycled paper. Additionally, guests can help in conserving water and energy, by opting not to have towels and linens changed everyday.

These initiatives further strengthen MHR’s commitment to going green and creating a “zero-waste” hotel operation model. In 2015, Grand Copthorne Waterfront was one of Singapore’s first hotels to partner the government’s food waste recycling programme by the National Environment Agency (NEA). By installing a food waste digester, Grand Copthorne Waterfront turns food waste into water that is used to water plants, wash the bin centre as well as common areas on the hotel grounds.

All six hotels currently have achieved the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Green Mark certification, with Grand Copthorne Waterfront and Copthorne King’s receiving the Platinum title, the highest tier in the accreditation system.

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