The First Collection, a lifestyle brand comprising of The First Group‘s portfolio of hotels, dining and leisure venues, is proud to announce it is already plastic bottle free in an initiative that will reduce the waste of over 1.25 million plastic bottles per year.
This follows on from the announcement of the ‘Dubai Can’ initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai on Tuesday 15th February.
Committed to reducing their carbon footprint, they are calling on other hotel chains and hospitality leaders to follow suit in a combined effort to reduce the industry’s impact on the environment.
The move towards "sustainable hospitality" was introduced in 2019 when TRYP by Wyndham Dubai launched its LUVE (Love Ur Vibrant Earth) sustainability policy. Collaborating with the local company No More Bottles, TRYP successfully replaced plastic bottled water with glass bottles, which are cleaned, refilled and labelled on site.
Using WaterLogic technology, the filtration dispensers remove contaminants and chlorine from water, making it safe to drink. The award-winning initiative eliminated an estimated 306,000 plastic water bottles of waste in the first year alone and has now been implemented across all operational hotels under the group.
In September 2021, The First Collection at Jumeirah Village Circle, the first branded hotel under the group opened their doors to guests as a plastic bottle free hotel. While other hotels under the group successfully made the switch to guilt-free glass bottles by the end of 2021, with Citadines Metro Central Dubai, Grand Heights Hotel Apartments and Wyndham Dubai Marina all welcoming the initiative with open arms.
Based on consumption figures in 2020, Citadines Metro Central Dubai will prevent 115,000 plastic bottles from going into landfills and a further 100,000 bottles of waste will be removed from the operations of Grand Heights Hotel Apartments. While Wyndham Dubai Marina and The First Collection at Jumeirah Village Circle are expected to reduce the waste of 365,000 bottles per year respectively.
David Thomson, VP of Hotels at The First Collection commented:
"‘Dubai Can’ is a remarkable initiative that will have a hugely beneficial impact on the environment and will make people reconsider their water consumption habits. The First Collection recognises the effect the hotel’s operations can have on the environment and we’ve made great strides to make eco-friendly accommodation more viable. All our properties are now PET plastic bottle free, which will save a massive 1.25 million plastic bottles ending up in waste every year."
"Aligned with our vision of ‘Enhancing Communities’, we’re using TRYP by Wyndham Dubai’s sustainability success as an example to reduce the carbon footprint across all our hotels under the group. We’d like to encourage other hotels to follow suit and we would be happy support them by showing them how they can implement similar initiatives."
Following the industry-leading sustainability programme, LUVE (Love Ur Vibrant Earth), The First Collection aims to set benchmarks for sustainability in the hospitality sector across the region, something that will remain a core focus of the group as they fulfil their ambitious growth plans over the next few years.