How to be a more sustainable hospitality operator in 2024

As the UK aims to reach net zero by 2050, and consumers become more concerned about climate change and making sustainable choices, sustainability is no longer just a bonus. It’s a necessity. This is especially true for the hospitality sector, which is responsible for up to 15% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.  

But seeking a more sustainable business model doesn’t just help you fulfil your Corporate Social Responsibility and help save the planet. It also helps you ride the wave of changing wants and needs in your customers, who are becoming much more conscious of climate change and pursuing a sustainable lifestyle.  

Here at Access Hospitality, we’ve always got one eye on the future. Our software solutions are built to help businesses increase both their efficiency and sustainability, so they can deliver the best service to their customers. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the key steps you can take to become more sustainable in 2024, and how you can focus on digital sustainability for big wins. 

Why you should prioritise sustainability in 2024

The pandemic triggered a remarkable shift in consumers' preferences. Not only around things like accessibility and home deliveries but also people's perspectives on sustainability have shifted. 

Studies find that when it comes to other parts of hospitality, such as hotels, 7 out of 10 travellers have avoided destinations or transportation because they felt the place was not truly committed to sustainability. In short, sustainability in hospitality is important to the customer, and it needs to be genuine.  

Customers aside, sustainability in hospitality is also incredibly important from a moral standpoint. As mentioned, hospitality contributes massively to the UK’s emissions. Between food, packaging and other ‘non-food’ waste, the Hospitality and Food Service sector’s waste totals 2.87 million tonnes, with only 46% of that being recycled (that’s about 1.5 million tonnes not being recycled).  

While consumers are becoming more aware of climate concerns and many are doing what they can to help, there are still lots of opportunities to make improvements. Digital sustainability is a particular area of focus for forward-thinking hospitality chains.  

By understanding the emerging and established trends which we will discuss in this article, you can position your business at the forefront of sustainability in 2024.  

How to become a sustainable hospitality business

Achieving true sustainability in hospitality requires businesses to go beyond the usual steps in their pursuit of effective and innovative solutions. By being strategic, leveraging technology to its fullest extent, and most importantly, putting an authentic desire to be more sustainable at the heart of your operations, hospitality chains can make real and lasting changes.

There are numerous avenues that you can take, and the more you can achieve, the better off you will be - both in terms of sustainability and efficiency.

Be more energy efficient

When you’re working in hospitality, you’re likely to be surrounded by appliances that will run throughout the day. 

An energy management system is a great way to keep control of your appliances and remain mindful of your electricity consumption. 

Energy management systems monitor, control and optimise your usage to save both money and energy. By providing insights into your energy usage, an EMS can help you identify areas to cut costs and reduce unnecessary output - whether that be through singling out specific pieces of equipment or highlighting times when energy could be conserved. By conserving energy and being strategic with its use, your hospitality venues will quickly be able to shrink their carbon footprints and lower their operational costs. 

Another brilliant feature of an EMS is that it can also allow for direct control over your various appliances. No matter where you are, you can look over your various sites and make the necessary changes. 

Optimising your energy use will also lead to more comfortable environments, meaning more productive staff and more satisfied customers.

Alongside this, you should also consider finding energy-efficient alternatives. Effective insulation will cut heating costs dramatically and reduce your operational costs. While multi-function systems, such as a restaurant EPoS remove the need to power multiple systems by replacing them with one singular, adaptable unit. 

Explore renewable energy solutions

Another great way to bring down your emissions is to invest in renewable energy. 

There are a number of renewable energy technologies available that are perfectly suited for hospitality venues:

• For larger venues with sufficient roof space, solar panels and solar thermal power can be a great return on investment and generate both electricity and heating. 
• If you have venues in more rural areas, and a lot of land at your disposal, wind turbines are a slightly costlier, but similarly effective way to generate energy. 
• Finally, heat pumps can be a great option for newer builds, drawing on the air, land and water all around you to provide warmth. 

In their bid to reach net zero, the UK government has made almost £5 billion in funding available to help businesses become greener, which makes such large-scale investments an even more appealing proposition. 

But that’s not the end of it. Companies invested in sustainability and energy optimisation could even go a step further by becoming a Virtual Power Plant. 

If you opt to install smart energy devices, renewable energy sources and energy storage systems in and around your sites, not only will you have your own supply of clean energy (reducing your dependence on the national grid) but you may also be able to support the grid by selling energy back to them, making an extra return on your sustainability efforts. 

Conserve water 

The UK wastes over 3 billion litres of clean water, which is approximately 25% of the UK’s water consumption, every single day. 

There are a multitude of ways to stem your water usage. The first and most obvious way is to only use what you need. The water you use can also be recycled in various ways, such as catching cooking water to reuse in other areas. 

Consider how else you use water. Do you have small areas of plants and greenery in or around your venue? Swapping them out for alternatives (such as fake grass) allows you to easily stay on top of the presentation without the need for water use. 

For hotel operators, consider putting limits on water usage in individual rooms to help you save water and energy costs by stopping guests from overdoing it, by taking overlong showers, for instance. 

Waste less food 

For hospitality, food waste is a huge issue. Hospitality outlets collectively waste 920,000 tonnes of food waste every year - that’s the equivalent of 1.3 billion meals. On average, 21% of this is down to spoilage, 45% from food prep and 34% comes back on the customer’s plates.  

There are multiple things you can do to combat food waste. 

For one, only order what you need, rather than always unnecessarily buying in bulk. Integrating hospitality procurement software could help with this, by creating a more streamlined ordering system. Then, make the most of what food you do have. Leftover ingredients from meals should be funnelled into other meals. 

A great place to start would be a review of your current menu. Using menu engineering and costing software lets you part out and adapt menus and recipes to utilise your stock more effectively. Are there any dishes that could be added to make the most of common leftover ingredients? Conversely, are there any items currently on the menu that are unpopular or just too big? These options could be cut or their portion sizes reduced, respectively, to minimise your waste.

Source food and supplies locally

As well as what you do with your food, you should also consider where you get it from. Purchasing food that has to be transported over vast distances unnecessarily contributes to carbon emissions, and also means that it’s not as fresh and therefore will spoil faster. 

Nearly 80% of people would either consider or be likely to order a meal with a local or seasonal twist. 

Offer more varied food options

As well as being more mindful about how you use food, something else you should consider during your menu review is whether or not you’re offering enough plant-based alternatives. 

Veganism and vegetarianism are growing, especially among the younger generations. 43% of UK-based Gen-Zers say they plan to cut out meat this year, with 26% of millennials feeling the same way. 

While many vegans choose their lifestyle for animal-based morality reasons, many are also conscious of the effects that cattle farming has on the planet. The farming of cows and other animals contributes to 14% of human-induced climate emissions. 

The meat industry also contributes to a range of other problems, such as: 

• Air pollution
• Excessive water use and pollution
• Land use and deforestation
• Overfishing

Consider swapping out some of your less popular meat-based dishes for plant-based alternatives.

Reduce, reuse, recycle 

There are a lot of opportunities to recycle in the hospitality industry, beyond reusing water and making use of leftover ingredients. 56% of recyclable packaging and other ‘non-food’ waste is just thrown away. This is a very easy fix and one that would make a huge difference. 

Besides being more proactive with your recycling, consider cutting down on unnecessary materials, such as plastics. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as utilising glass containers for leftovers and ingredients, swapping plastic packaging for paper (or forgoing certain packaging entirely) or making changes such as installing soap and shampoo dispensers rather than purchasing individual bottles for each room. 

Practice digital sustainability

Many sustainability measures can be implemented by looking into digital sustainability. 

Digital sustainability allows you to remove unnecessary materials (such as menus, bills, notepads and signage) and replace them with digital versions, such as order and pay systems and hospitality checklist apps. This can take the form of on-premises screens, or software that can be accessed directly by the customer, allowing not only for a more sustainable hospitality experience but also a much more efficient one. 

When replacing technology, always be mindful of how you get rid of it. Many discarded pieces of technology end up in landfills when they might still be useful to someone else. You should also make sure that technology can’t be restored or fixed before getting rid of it. In these instances, using facility management software to keep on top of repairs could be extremely useful. 

Sustainability in hospitality - Stay ahead of the curve

Sustainable practices in hospitality are becoming more commonplace, but businesses covering the full breadth of sustainability practices are uncommon. 

By implementing a genuine, comprehensive sustainability strategy, your business will be able to attract more customers, offer more competitive prices, and show that you’re a business worth paying attention to. 

You’ll need to take a close look at your strategy to see what sustainability practices you can improve on, and what software solutions you can implement to get you there. Our friendly specialists are always on hand to talk you through the best software options for a more sustainable business. 

Book a personalised demo today to find out what hospitality software can make your business more sustainable.