Continuing its planet-friendly policies, Corinthia Palace Hotel in Malta has gone straw-free. The move follows the planned new EU legislation being introduced before the summer to ban single-use plastics. Environmental concerns focus on the fact that plastic straws take over 200 years to break down. Already, a number of British restaurants have announced that they are phasing out straws, making them only available on request. Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle have also supported the campaign.
“As a group we strive to look after the environment, buying local produce to reduce our carbon footprint and having an active ECO programme,” says General Manager David Woodward. “Following discussions that arose in the EU reflecting straws’ usage and the damage they cause the environment, we have decided that as from today, we will be a straw-free property.”
Corinthia Palace Hotel uses 40,000 straws each year, on average, and will now use paper straws with a wax cover as a substitute, offered on request.
As a collection of luxury, five-star hotels worldwide, Corinthia’s eco-friendly policies play a major role and sustainability is a top priority. The group’s philosophy is to become a more environmentally-conscious business while technological improvements are allowing it to protect the environment and be economically efficient at the same time.
Across the group, the company’s environmental sustainability is championed through its Premier Partnership with international water-aid charity Just A Drop. Over the last three years Corinthia has brought life-changing clean water to a total of 43,325 children and families across five Just A Drop projects, the most recent in Zambia and Tanzania.
“We strive for sustainability across three areas of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda, in environmental sustainability, personal sustainability and community sustainability,“ says Commercial Director Matthew Dixon.
Each of the hotels in Corinthia play their part, whether it be saving enough water to irrigate 15,000 trees for three years, interest free loans for bicycle purchases, fund-raising for worthwhile charities and installing solar thermal panels. These are just some of the ways in which Corinthia Hotels is developing energy efficient hotels and exceeding the group’s corporate social responsibility targets.