Jetwing Hotels’ efforts on International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste

Jetwing Hotels has now coined September 29 as ‘Zero Waste Day’ across its properties to commemorate the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste this week and to highlight the damage caused by food wastage and promote solutions to tackle the problem within the hospitality sector. 

The ‘Zero Waste Day’ implemented at the properties encourage staff to be mindful about the waste they produce by monitoring and filling only a cup of waste in place of large waste bins during the day, thereby reducing the quantity produced, immensely. Hotels who have implemented this has seen a reduction in food waste upto 90 per cent, for example, Jetwing Lagoon saw great success on Zero Waste day, being able to reduce food waste from an average of 3.08 kg per day to a mere 0.360 kg, and the hotel hopes to make the event a regular occurrence in the future, the company said in a media release. 

The hospitality brand, constantly pioneering sustainable tourism in Sri Lanka has applied several practices to its operations within the hotels to reduce and manage food waste, inform staff and recognise the damage food waste can do to the environment and community. Initiatives such as weighing waste after meals in the cafeterias, donating buffet leftovers to local schools and publicly displaying infographics for staff have been ongoing initiatives done by the hotels. Jetwing’s policy of local sourcing and ordering of supplies based on occupancy has also helped reduce wastage during transport and storage. Since the hospitality industry tends to contribute to the issue of food waste, rather than simply disposing it, Jetwing uses it to generate renewable energy via onsite biogas digesters.