(TAN): Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) celebrated World Environment Day with a globally significant milestone. 11 IHCL hotels have achieved EarthCheck Certified Platinum recognition while 61 hotels have achieved Gold and 6 hotels have achieved Silver.
Representing 10 continuous years of measuring and monitoring best practices in sustainability, this total of Platinum and Gold Certified hotels is the largest in the tourism industry, anywhere in the world.
Dr P.V. Murthy, Executive Vice President & Global Head HR, IHCL, said, “This is a result of IHCL’s unflinching efforts to minimize the impact on the environment. As a Tata company, we believe it is our responsibility to take action for conserving natural resources for future generations. The significant achievement reiterates the group’s firm commitment to sustainable development through adoption of global best practices.”
IHCL joined EarthCheck, the world’s leading scientific benchmarking and certification group, for the tourism and travel industry in 2008 and has ever since endeavoured to continuously deliver on its sustainable objectives.
The group has persistently worked towards optimizing energy, water usage and responsible waste management. IHCL regularly communicates its sustainability performance through the United Nations Global Compact and Business Responsibility Reporting.
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In its journey to sustainability, the group has achieved EarthCheck Certification for 78 of its hotels, which has generated significant savings:
- Reduced water consumption compared to the previous period by appx. 0.36 million kilolitres, which is equivalent to 150 Olympic sized swimming pools
- Minimised waste sent to landfill by 3,600 cubic metres, which is equivalent to 30,000 wheelie bins
- Reduced greenhouse gas emissions including appx. 11.2 million kg CO2, comparable to taking 3,500 cars off the road
- Saved appx. 72 million mega joules of energy, which is equivalent to powering 3,000 typical 4 person households for a year
