From January 2017, the Best Western Plus Centurion Hotel in Midsomer Norton, near Bath has reduced its volume of waste by 85%, helping the hotel towards its goal of zero waste to landfill.
Instead of 17,600 litres being collected every two weeks, to date the collection is down to 2 x 1100 litres bins.
General Manager, Mark Manley, explained that he wanted to reduce his waste costs in a sustainable way so arranged a trial to see the potential cost savings. The hotel is on track to realise a net saving of £4,562 per year on disposal, much of which was due to reduced haulage costs as the waste is now mostly dealt with onsite.
Advetec installed a second-generation bio-thermic digester sufficient to handle up to 10,000 litres per week of general hotel and kitchen waste such as food, paper, plastics, tin cans and salon wax after the glass and cardboard has been separated out for recycling.
Where many waste digesters typically process only organic waste, the Advetec biothermic digester is unique in that it processes mixed waste streams using a combination of technology and microbiology. The Advetec machine significantly reduces both by mass and volume within 72 hours in a continuous feed process.
Manley said: “I am delighted with the results – this is a far greener way to dispose of general waste and food waste than putting lorries on the road and adding to emissions.”
Richard Goff, Chief Operating Officer of Advetec added: “We have been working closely with the Centurion Hotel team to understand the issues restaurants and hotels face and are looking to develop a new small footprint machine specifically to match the industry’s needs during 2018. This reduced footprint system will complement Advetec’s latest generation digesters, the Advetec XO.”
The hotel is planning to show other managers of Best Western Hotels how the process works and maybe roll out the scheme elsewhere in the chain.