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National Environmental Conference & Exhibition

for the Hospitality & Tourism Industry

- Irish Hotels lead the way in Waste Reduction

The National Environmental Conference & Exhibition for the Hospitality & Tourism Industry is the first environmental conference specifically aimed at the Hospitality & Tourism Industry in Ireland. The event is taking place on Tuesday 5th September, 2006 in Killashee House Hotel. The Conference will be officially opened by Minister Dick Roche T.D. and will be Chaired by Noel Duffy from Clean Technology Centre in Cork.

The Cleaner Greener Production Programme (CGPP) is funded through the National Development Plan (NDP) and managed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Cleaner greener production aims to reduce consumption of resources and avoid generating pollution in the first place. This type of strategy can cut costs, reduce risks and identify new opportunities. It can be the most efficient way to operate processes, produce goods or provide services.

The EPA wants to make “cleaner greener production” normal practice for Ireland’s businesses - this means -

	Lower costs
	Better business
	Less waste
	Better efficiency
	Less resource consumption
	Better environmental performance
	Lower emissions

More than 60 Irish hotels are engaging in a unique programme to reduce their environmental impact - while, at the same time, reducing costs. The programme, entitled - 'Greening Irish Hotels' - is part-funded under CGPP-Phase 2 - run by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Irish Hospitality Institute, the project leader, has been delighted by the response. To date, more than 40 'core' hotels and 20 associated hotels effect environmental improvements and produce environmental data on a scale never seen before in this country.

The core hotels undertake audits of waste production and water and energy use. These are followed by training and the implementation of reduction measures. The associated hotels also provide data for benchmarking.

In some cases, the results have been remarkable. For example, one Irish hotel has now achieved waste production figures of 0.53 kg waste landfilled per sleeper. This compares to the international 'Best-Practice' benchmark of 1.5 kg waste landfilled per sleeper. The same hotel is also approaching the international 'Best-Practice' guideline for energy - 260 kWh/m²/annum.

With 3.5 million m² of floor space in Irish hotels - and 16 million sleeper nights sold - the potential savings are phenomenal. For example, if all Irish hotels can reach these 'Best-Practice' levels, the following reductions could be made in the industry as a whole -

ENVIRONMENTAL GAINS
	Annual Reduction
Energy (equivalent fuel reduction)	600-700 million kWh 50,000 - 60,000 tonnes
Water	2.2 - 3.1 million tonnes
Waste to landfill	30 - 50 thousand tonnes

ECONOMIC GAINS
	Annual Reduction
Energy	€40 million - €50 million
Water	€4 million - €5 million
Waste to landfill	€6 million - €10 million

Apart from the obvious gains, a real success has been the co-operative action by members of a commercial sector. This type of networking and information sharing has been shown elsewhere to be a major factor in the innovation process. Such shared innovation inevitably leads to improved performance in business.

The IHI programme should be an example to other sectoral groups - at a time when waste and energy costs have become a significant factor on business profitability.

Expert consultants have been engaged to develop and run the programme and to ensure its quality.

The programme culminates in the Greening Irish Hotels National Hospitality Environmental Conference - when full project results will be revealed. This conference will be held in Killashee House Hotel, Co. Kildare on September 5th, 2006.

The conference, which is “An opportunity to identify effective environmental cost management, whilst sustaining the future of Irish tourism” is aimed at -

Hotel Managers
Catering Managers
Local Authorities
Environmental Officers
Tourism & Marketing Officers
Engineering Managers
Operation Managers
Tour Operators
Suppliers
Hostel Managers
Accommodation Sector
Nursing Homes
Hospital Managers
Architects
Designers
Interior Designers.

To view the conference Programme and list of speakers - Click Here

To make a reservation - Click Here - or contact:
Derek Walshe
Irish Hospitality Institute
8 Herbert Lane
Dublin 2
Tel: 01 6624790
Fax: 01 6624789
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.greeningirishhotels.ie