How green is your hotel?

Iftikhar Hamdani, Cluster General Manager, Ramada Hotel and Suites Ajman, Ramada Beach Hotel Ajman & Wyndham Garden Ajman, has not only initiated sustainable projects but shared his findings with other stakeholders and clearly showed the profits it could reap in the industry.

TT Bureau

For the past few years, there has been one voice communicating and initiating sustainability projects in Ajman. Iftikhar Hamdani, Cluster General Manager, Ramada Hotel and Suites Ajman, Ramada Beach Hotel Ajman and Wyndham Garden Ajman, who listened, observed and did his research before executing a process, today manages three properties reaping profits for his owners whilst ensuring that sustainable methods are utilised for future generations.

Waterless car cleaning
Everything revolves around water for cleanliness. Over the years, the special team working with Hamdani looked into the types of wastage and found that a lot of water is required to wash vehicles, resulting in wastage. Hence, they compiled a programme to find the right party to assist them in saving water. Last year, the transport department of the three hotels started waterless vehicle cleaning and saved 272,000 litres of water.

Biodiesel and waste
Another project which has been very profitable is the oil converted to biodiesel. The main saving is the wasted oil, over 12,000 liters of which would have just been thrown emitting more carbon to the environs. The team developed a method to convert and use it as biodiesel which will be used in the properties. One of the earlier projects since 2012 is the waste diverted from the landfill at Ramada Hotel and Suites by Wyndham Ajman. 2,190 tonnes of waste has been diverted from the landfill year-on-year.

Soap for hope
This is a programme which needs no introduction as today Hamdani and his team continuously send over 240 kg of soap to be sanitised and used in underprivileged countries under the ‘Soap for Hope’ programme. Another charitable programme developed is the donation of over 400 kg of linen (including towels, bed sheets, pillows) from 2014 onwards up to date.

Glass over plastic
Plastic bottles have a very short shelf-life but over the years, various findings suggest that one must replace them for health reasons. He states, “We are in the process of replacing plastic bottles with glass bottles aiming to save financially and create a campaign against plastic bottles. Currently, Ramada Hotel and Suites by Wyndham Ajman’s annual consumption of plastic bottles is approximately 320,662 bottles. With this campaign, there will be no more plastic bottles at the hotel. Our 650 staff are reusing reusable bags for shopping instead of using plastic.”