The LightBlue workshop trained Marriott staff on food waste reduction, achieving The PLEDGE certification and using the Winnow system. Photo Credit: Marriott
A total of 55 Marriott Hotels across the UK, Ireland and Nordics have been certified with The PLEDGE on Food Waste, a Singapore-based third-party audited certification and benchmarking system, which aims for zero food waste to landfill.
More than120 Chefs, directors of F&B, and hotel managers were trained by LightBlue Environmental Consulting, a food waste prevention tech and consultancy firm based in Bangkok, Thailand, founded by Benjamin Lephilibert. LightBlue hosted a two-day workshop in Edinburgh, equipping participants with the knowledge and tools on how to implement and achieve the PLEDGE certification and how to monitor food waste using the Winnow system.
The hotels first built a food lovers' committee, and implemented new practices following the 95 criteria of The PLEDGE, that include: designing and adopting a food waste policy, shared with all stakeholders; training employees, and raising their awareness using multiple touch points, such as canteen and on-the-job training; capturing and analysing food waste data; engaging with guests to nudge them towards reducing plate waste and exploring existing solutions to divert the remaining food waste from the landfill.
The 55 hotels went through third-party audits conducted by SGS UK and Audit Diagnostic Solutions Tourism, to verify their compliance against the standard. Of those who took part,
53 hotels obtained ‘gold’, and two hotels ‘silver’ against the 95 criteria of The PLEDGE certification. This collective effort resulted in a 25% reduction in food waste per cover, equivalent to 215,900+ meals and to 415 tons of carbon emissions being avoided. A total of 121 zero food waste dishes have been added to the menus too.
Marco Sandri, global manager of The PLEDGE on Food Waste said: “We are so pleased to see Marriott UKIN pave the way on the critical issue of food waste in hospitality. Eleven years of expertise in food waste prevention is encapsulated in this project, combining technical capacity building, joint strategy, tailored support, and third-party certification. This success will hopefully inspire more industry leaders to become ‘pledgers’ too."