Innovation

Through the implementation of LightStay, a system and measurement platform to calculate and analyze environmental impact, Hilton began focusing on operating in a more consciously sustainable manner. The system captures information from a variety of places within the hotel including: paper product usage, food waste, and chemical storage. One thing that sets Hilton apart from many other franchise companies is that they require all hotels across their portfolio to use LightStay, reporting on their sustainability success. The visibility across all hotels allows everyone to see how their hotel, as well as other hotels are doing, and creates the burning platform to drive change now (Now- is one of their values- operating with a sense of urgency and discipline.)

Inspiration

Hilton has realized and responded to the need for businesses globally to play a role in addressing sustainability initiatives. Involving their 145,000 Team Members in this focus there is the potential for Hilton to make a large difference globally.

Overall impact

Through LightStay, Hilton is able to monitor current waste management and respond appropriately. There has been a concerted effort in engaging Team Members and getting them involved in programs that better their hotel, Hilton overall, and ultimately the world. As a part of LightStay an initiative called “RePurpose” was created which furthers the efforts of reducing food waste and focuses on re-purposing or recycling common hotel items. Some of the global RePurpose initiatives include:

· Global Soap Project- By partnering with organizations that have existing operations to collect used soap, that would have otherwise been discarded, Hilton collects the used soap from guests which is then melted down to provide vulnerable populations around the world with soap.

· Feeding America and The Global Foodbanking Network- Hotels collect safe, surplus food from daily operations such as daily breakfast, conferences, and meetings and instead of throwing the unused food away it is made available to those in need in the local community.

· Good360-through the LightStay system hotels can input goods available for donation into a tracking system. Charities that are a part of the Good360 network can take advantage of any goods or items and give them a second home.

· Global Sustainability Solutions, Serta and Simmons- a partnership to recycle and repurpose used mattresses rather than sending these large items to the landfill.

However, in order to scale efforts, get Team Members involved, and create a sense of engagement and ownership, Team Members are encouraged to find local partners as well. From the beginning Hilton focused on getting Team Members involved and relied heavily on creating a network of ambassadors. Hotels are encouraged to participate in the global initiatives but also find opportunities to innovate and create sustainability in their local areas organically.

One Example of a Local Sustainability Measure: One Team Member locally began focusing on waste reduction by removing the trash bins for a day. It encouraged guests and other Team Members to only take what they could eat and eliminate the amount of waste- the result was a 70% decline in waste. This simple idea spread globally and now many other hotels participate in a similar initiative.

Business benefit

Hilton has created a shared vision and a deeper sense of employee engagement across brands. The focus on sustainability starts at the top with business leaders and permeates throughout the entire organization. A long term focus has been established which is essential when focusing on sustainability and waste management- many of the innovations that are being focused on will not show results tomorrow. Katelin Kennedy, Senior Manager, Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability at Hilton Worldwide, encourages Hilton and other organizations to engage Team Members early and to have a long-term focus. Kennedy mentioned “It takes great bravery to know you are making a difference and not be able to see the impacts and benefits right away.”

Some of the measurable benefits thus far include:

• Close to 2 million new bars of soap (more than 600,000 pounds) distributed globally from recycled soap
• No Bin Day- launched in 135 hotels was able to decrease waste by 95%
• Waste output has decreased by 27.6% since 2009

Social and environmental benefit

Hilton is impacting the society and environment through a number of ways. Kennedy highlighted this in the philosophy and thinking they are applying to society and environmental efforts. When an organization reaches out asking for a partnership or support Hilton encourages both sides to explore the root cause of the issue. For example, if an ocean conservationist reached out asking for support on removing plastic from the ocean in the form of volunteers or financial support, what if Hilton could contribute by taking a more innovative approach leading to large scale global change. Kennedy used the example “if plastic is an issue in oceans, rather than provide support through volunteers or money, what if we try to eliminate plastic in our hotels?” Hilton has a long-term focus and wants to impact the world for the better.

Utilizing their global reach, large employee population, and the LightStay tool Hilton has and will continue to positively impact waste reduction globally.

Interview

Katelin Kennedy and Pam Meiners, Katelin Kennedy, Senior Manager, Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability at Hilton Worldwide; Pam Meiners, Senior Director Rec