Ahead of World Environment Day, The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has announced an initiative to reduce overall water intensity by five per cent within the next two years across all its hotels. EarthCheck, the world’s leading scientific benchmarking and certification group will conduct a monthly audit to monitor IHCL’s sustainability practices and progress.
The company has also launched a Water SMART contest wherein all hotels will participate to initiate a water intensity reduction project for three months and the model of the winning hotel / hotels will be scaled across all hotels as a best practice.
Dr. PV Murthy, Executive Vice President and Global Head – Human Resources, IHCL said, “Our sustainability goals have evolved with the changing world that we live in. At IHCL, it is our constant endeavour to grow responsibly and contribute to preserving the environment in a meaningful way. This year’s goal is in line with our commitment to working towards optimising water and energy consumption.”
IHCL’s Sustainability Report, based on GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) Standards highlights the impact the Company has made towards environmental stewardship. IHCL has been successful in eliminating two million plastic straws from its ecosystem within a year. IHCL has scaled up the renewable energy quotient from seven per cent to 23 per cent over the last three years.
Three of IHCL’s award-winning hotels – Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Andamans, Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Maldives and Taj Samudra, Colombo have eliminated PET bottles entirely. Today, all three hotels have their own in-house bottling units.
