Mireia Munoz 2016

Environmental Management Plan

2

Table of Contents

1. Introduction............................................................................................................................... 3

2. Baseline Review ......................................................................................................................... 4

3. Action Plan ................................................................................................................................ 7

4. Communication plan ............................................................................................................... 12

5. Critical successful factors and risk ........................................................................................... 14

6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 16

7. Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 16

8. Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 22

3

1. Introduction Environmental management systems (EMS) are beneficial for business

competitiveness and performance (Pereira-Moliner et al., 2015), as recent studies

shown that environmental proactive hotels achieve above average business

performance (Pereira-Moliner et al., 2015). Furthermore, customers will be willing to

pay a higher price if they are convinced that they will be staying at an environmental

responsible business (Razović, 2013). Hence, the importance for hotels of having EMS

and an effective CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) (de Grosbois, 2012) in order to

engage with investors, governments, and customers and as a result increase their

revenues (de Grosbois, 2012).

This report presents Moor Hall Hotel & Spa (MH) with an EMP (Environmental

Management Plan) for the hotel rooms, which includes a business description, baseline

review, environmental targets and actions followed by a timeline for implementation, a

communication strategy to their stakeholders and a risk associated. Following the

Environmental Management for Hotels guidelines (Baker, 2008), this EMP will firstly

be reviewed by MH´s management as available resources will need to be considered,

consequently will be consulted with their main stakeholders prior implementation,

Table 1- Business Description

Business size Medium- Family owned

Type of business 4* Accommodation, Restaurant, Spa

Location Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham)

Occupancy 73% (Birmingham 2015 average), (bqlive, 2015).

Facilities 83 rooms, 2 restaurants, 6 meeting rooms, gardens and grounds,

leisure centre with indoor pool and spa.

4

Management

structure

Staff

ratios/Customers

0.61

EMP and awards Environmental Management Policy Yes (appendix 1)

EMP No

2011 as the winner of the Green Restaurant Award for

Waste Management from Birmingham City Council.

Is there a Team in

charge of

sustainability issues

Yes, “The green team” (Moor Hall Hotel & Spa, 2016.)

2. Baseline Review

The Moor Hall Hotel focuses in delivering high level of quality service and contributing

to a long term sustainability of their local community through a strong CSR policy and

environmental commitment. The hotel aims to achieve the Green Tourism Business

Standard (Green Business, 2016).

According to Geerts (2014), companies should define their CSR and environmental

strategies aligned with their commitments and resources, as an EMP should be

achievable. Taking in consideration budget and available resources, and following

industry guidelines from ITP (2008), the below areas of impacts have been prioritised:

water, energy, waste, supply chain, Biodiversity.

5

Impacts and possible causes

Impacts Details Possible causes

Water

Water pollution Use of toiletries in the

rooms, ad of cleaning

chemicals in the laundry

and by housekeeping

department.

- Hotel does not use eco friendly

chemicals for laundry and

cleaning (Leonidou et al.,

2015).

- Lack of ecofriendly toiletries in

the guest rooms (Chen, 2015).

Water

consumption

High amount of water

consumption.

- Lack of communication to

guests about water saving

initiatives (Terrier, et al. 2015).

- Plumbing systems being old

and with possible leakage.

- Housekeeping uses high

amounts of water on their

duties (appendix 2).

Energy

General Energy

Consumption

High amounts of energy

consumption

- Housekeeping, laundry

services require high levels of

energy to operate (Pieri et al.,

2015).

- To focus on customer’s

satisfaction and quality service

the hotel will keep the hotel

warm and lights on 24h.

- Appliances are not energy

efficient (Carbon Trust, 2016).

Solid Waste

Solid waste High amounts of solid

waste generation in the

- Hotel is not providing recycling

options in the rooms or guest

6

rooms.

areas.

- Room toiletries increase the

general amount of waste.

- Kitchen doesn’t control organic

waste or unused product waste

(Sandaruwani, et al. 2016)

- Guest leaving shopping

packages behind during their

stay.

Supply Chain

Environmental

Impact of the

supply chain

Lack of sustainable

supply chain policy.

- Hotel buys individual package

products (Bhatia, 2006).

- Not taking into consideration

eco-friendly products (George

Karavasilis et al., 2015).

- New furniture and appliances

are not environmentally friendly

(IH&RA, 2008)

Biodiversity

Impact in the

Biodiversity

The extension of the

gardens and the access

to the hotel building have

an impact in biodiversity

(Habibullamh et al.,

2016)

- The creation of pavement

access to the land and parking

has altered the natural soil and

creates air pollution from the

transportation used (IH&RA,

2008)

- The noise pollution from the

visitors might affect the local

fauna (Rinkesh, 2013).

- The risk of customers walking

around off track might have an

erosion of the ground (Roberts

et al, 2001).

7

3. Action Plan After reviewing the impacts and possible causes, we are presenting to the MH management with the following action plan. In order to create a EMP that is successful, MH should ensure that their staff members are supportive it (ITP, 2008). We are including in this plan environmental objectives and targets, based on SMART principles (specific, measurable, agreed, realistic, time bound) (Font et al, 2015), a justification for those, followed by an action, the responsible department agreed previously by management as well as human, economic resources, and timeline to put this plan in place. The proposed action plan will help MH management after implementation, to monitor results and creating reporting models (Orboi et al, 2015).

Environmental objectives

Environmental targets

Justification Action Responsible department

Staff time Cost

Implementation timeline (*)

Reduce water

pollution

- Reduce the

usage of

chemicals in the

hotel operations.

The reasonable

consumption of active

chemical ingredients

is advised to be at

<10 g per guest-night

(Styles et al., 2015)

- Increasing to 80% the usage of

products, awarded with ISO Type

I eco-label.

- Reduction of chemicals usage

in the laundry, implementing eco-

friendly laundry products.

- Provide training on efficient

usage of new cleaning products

Housekeeping

Manager

12m

6m

8

to housekeeping staff.

1m

Reduce water

consumption

- Reduce the

general water

consumption from

a current 140

L/g£ to 127 L/g£.

Achievable Water

savings through

implementation of

best practice are

estimated to be at

least 127 L/ g£n for

fully serviced hotels

(Styles et al., 2015)

- Low flow system installation in

bathrooms and hotel kitchen.

- Reduction in laundry by reuse

of towels and bedclothes by

30%.

- Create Informative leaflets and

signs for guest rooms about the

importance of using water wisely,

linking this information to the

existent fresh water resources in

the surrounding areas.

- Set up targets at every

department to reward staff

collaboration.

Maintenance

Manager

Housekeeping

manager

Front of House

Manager

Directors

12m

3m

3m

6m

Reduce energy

consumption

- Reduce

consumption from

current <390

Kwh/m2 to <345

Kwh/m2.

The satisfactory levels

stated by ITP

(appendix 2, figure 2)

are marked as <345

Kwh/m2

- Create a process for monitoring

consumption monthly.

- Change all appliances to LED

energy saving bulbs.

- Technical maintenance of

electric appliances to ensure

efficient working conditions.

Maintenance

Manager

3m

18m

12m

9

- Yearly revision of electric

systems to identify efficiency

issues.

- Install plug-in timers in guest

rooms to allow heat/cooling

system to switch off when not in

use.

- Fit thermostat system in the non

guest rooms to maintain the hotel

temperature 24h.

- Installation of sub-meters to set

targets of energy performance by

departments.

12m

18m

24m

24m

Decrease solid

waste

Reduce current

solid waste levels

from <2.3 to

<1kg/guest night

that is the

average hotel

levels (Green

Hotelier,2009).

Implementation of

solid waste policy can

reduce hotel waste

disposal cost by 60%

(Radwan et al., 2012)

- Creation a No waste policy

including: a register for

monitoring for each department,

training session, and an end of

the year performance

communication to all the staff

members.

- Sourcing recycle bins for the

guest areas and hotel

departments with graphic

messages on how to use them.

- Organic waste to be turn into

Maintenance

Manager

Front of House

Manager

Food and

Beverage

3m

6m

6m

10

compost for gardening.

- Source eco-friendly toiletries for

guest rooms.

- Replace toilet tissues only when

disposals are almost empty.

- Furniture or appliances to be

changed but in working

conditions to be sold to staff

members or given to charity.

- Offering free Wi-Fi access to

guest, to reduce paper use of

daily newspapers.

Manager

Front of House

Manager

Housekeeping

manager

Finance

Manager

Front of House

Manager

12m

1m

12m

1m

Diversification

on supply chain

Improve supply

chain footprint

The purchasing

department doesn’t

take into

consideration

sustainability best

practices when

contracting or

outsourcing products

-Create a sustainable supply

chain policy (SPC), add it to

purchasing T&Cs and train staff

-Distribute the new SPC with

current suppliers and contractors

-Purchase in bulk to replace

current individual products (i.e.

toiletries)

-Increase to <+80% the eco-

Housekeeping

Manager

Assistant

Manager

Finance

Manager

Finance

6m

6-8m

12-18m

11

friendly products and furniture Manager

24m

Reduce

biodiversity

impact

Reduce

biodiversity

impact from the

exterior areas of

the hotel

The garden and

external garden areas

can impact on soil

erosion, noise and air

pollution.

-Carry out an impact assessment

of the exterior areas to obtain

details of current impact.

-Plant endemic plants in the

garden

-Create communications for

guests in the exterior path to

make them aware of erosion in

the soil

-Study discount options for

guests coming to the hotel by

public transport

-Encourage staff to share

transportation

-Collaborate with a local

environmental conservation NGO

Maintenance

Manager

Front of House

Manager

Food and

Beverage

Manager

Housekeeping

manager

Finance

Manager

3m

9-12m

12-18m

6-9m

1-3m

3-6m

(* Considering the EMP (document) will be ready by January 2016. Timeline implementation is set from 1 to 24 months)

12

4. Communication plan Molina (2015), consider that for an EMP to be successful the communication, transparency and training is crucial. Also, according to Bennett (2016), stakeholders claimed EMP to be a legal requirement to ensure the communication between stakeholders during the EMP implementation. Consequently the importance for a correct internal communication with the hotel staff members about the plan, implementation and review, as well as an effective communications strategy to guarantee the information between all the stakeholders.

Figure 4.1- MH´s stakeholders

4.1. Communication Strategy

Stakeholder Message Method Timeline Responsible

Staff - Internal company

EMP launch

- Actions and

implementations in

staff and working

areas.

- Formal meeting with presentation. Each

employee will have the relevant points

concerning and fitting into the EMP for their

job description. A copy to be available for the

staff.

- Internal communication email

- monthly updates and year EMP

Jan 16

On going

Senior

management

Department

manager

Communicatio

Moor Hall

Hotel

Directors (owners)

Managers

Employees

Customers Suppliers

Community

Local organizations

13

performance meeting

n manager

Managers - Introduction to the

plan, budget,

targets,

communication

strategy.

- Formal meeting introductory

- monthly meeting and every 3 months review

of targets

- Creation for a feedback system to allow

employees and clients give feedback.

Jan 16

Ongoing

Directors

Department

managers

Guest -Environmental

Management Policy

and company

commitment

available in website

- Environmental

actions in guest

areas

- Update of the Environmental section of the

website with actions to achieve the company

commitments. Key to help in changing

customer behaviours towards the

environment (Sung-Bum Kim et al, 2013).

- Leaflets in hotel receptions, Posters in

public areas and messages in guest rooms.

Jan 16

Mar 16

Communicatio

n manager

Front of house

manager

Suppliers -Communication of

EMP implementation

to suppliers.

- Requirements and

T&C´s to existent

suppliers

- Email communication.

- Email or postal service

Feb 16

Mar 16

Finance

manager/

department

managers

Local

community,

authorities

and

environment

al

associations

- Communication

with local authorities,

associations and

community.

- Email communication EMP.

- Yearly review updates

Mar 16

Ongoing

Communicatio

n manager

14

5. Critical successful factors and risk assessment After developing and implementing an EMP, there are some factors that are crucial for

an EMP to succeed and allow and improved customer satisfaction and differentiation

from competitors (Molina-Azorín et al., 2015).

Henderson (2007) identifies the following factors:

- Total commitment towards the implementation of the EMP from all the

stakeholders.

- Creation of an environmental culture.

- Better procedures, training and corrective actions: A budget and resources will

need to be allocated, hence the importance to analyze internal structures in

place.

After understanding the successful factors, to implement an EMP is relevant to assess

possible risks, their likelihood and impact, and follow a control approach to minimize or

mitigate them (Amaonwu, 2015)

Risk Likehood Impact level Control measure

Lack of staff

commitment

2 3 - Staff

consultation in

decision making.

- Engagement

through feedback

system

- Constant

training

- Share results

and updates on

EMP

implementation

process

Customers not

engaging with

new hotel

procedures

2 2 - Review

communication

strategy in house

and online.

- Use social

media channels

to present new

procedures and

train on the

consequences for

15

the environment.

Lack of skills to

meet targets and

objectives

2 2 - Informative

sessions, staff

management and

training

implementation to

support staff.

Lack of

compliance

knowledge

1 1 - Ongoing review

of policies and

adhering to

informative

compliance

services.

Lack of green

supply chain

1 2 - Review

standards and

seek alternatives

with reduced

impacts.

-Contact or

adhere to a green

certification to

seek advice of

services for green

hotels.

Not enough

budget

3 3 - Review of EMP

plan and

allocated budgets

to re-assess

priorities.

Impact rating:

1- Low- not affecting targets

2- Moderate- slightly affects

3- High- Affects targets

Likehood rating

1- Low- Not likely

2- Medium- Likely to happen

3- High- Risk

16

6. Conclusion Moor Hall hotel & Spa is in the right path to implement an EMP. They are already

showing their environmental commitment through their policy and internal Corporate

Social Responsibility. The hotel owners understand the importance to their business of

having an EMP in place; however they will not be able to fully understand the barriers

and drivers toward their targets until they start implementing this plan.

Because of the location of the MH, the hotel have to commit to an environmental

protection and must work close with their stakeholders and with an open and innovative

approach, because of the limited budget and resources they currently have in place.

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8. Appendix Appendix 1

Environmental Policy- Moor Hall Hotel

At Moor Hall Hotel & Spa we recognise the potential effect of our operations on the local, regional and global environment. As part of our objective to be the first choice hotel in the area, we are committed to minimising and controlling our impact on the environment through a series of continuous improvements.

We will strive to improve our environmental performance and to prevent pollution by achieving the standards set by the Green Tourism Business Scheme - www.green-business.co.uk.

We are committed to meeting the requirements of all relevant legislation and regulations and, where no legislation exists, we will set our own minimum standards.

Our commitment:

We will encourage and support our ‘Green Team’ to identify ways to reduce our carbon footprint and to implement eco-friendly policies.

We will source food locally as much as possible. We will work with our suppliers to reduce transport and packaging. Our energy, water and paper use will be monitored and controlled to reduce

consumption at every opportunity. We will use alternative energy sources, such as solar power, where possible. We will continue to operate an eco-friendly transport policy, utilising electric

company vehicles and sharing journeys where appropriate.

20

Appendix 2

Figure 1. Annual Water Consumption in Hotels

Source: Green Hotelier, 2008

Figure 2. Benchmark values for electricity and other energy consumption in luxury fully-

serviced hotels.

Source: Green Hotelier, 2008

21

Source: Green Hotelier, 2008