Whitbread, owner of the UK’s largest hotel
company Premier Inn, has unveiled plans to cut water consumption
by 20% per guest by 2030.
In order to achieve this ambitious target across
its estate, Whitbread will install water-saving technologies –
including upgraded WC valves, water-efficient showerheads, and
flow restrictors on taps – across its entire UK portfolio of over
845 hotels, prioritising those in areas at higher risk of water
stress.
A trial of the innovative water-saving
technologies involving a number of hotels in water stressed areas
revealed the potential to cut the group’s gas consumption and
related carbon emissions by 5%, following a reduction in water use
of just over 20%.
“Reducing water use and gas consumption not only
benefits the environment but makes perfect business sense. Not
only are we looking at potential significant savings on our water
and gas bills, but our hotels will be less impacted by the water
restrictions placed on drought-stricken regions which we are
seeing with increasing regularity, most recently in 2022,” said
Rosana Elias, Head of Sustainability at Whitbread. “This
announcement, part of Whitbread’s Force for Good programme which
addresses the environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues
most material to our business, is the latest in a series that
position Whitbread as a leader amongst its peer group.”
For the duration of their stay, water used by
guests at Whitbread hotels is water they will not be using at
home. With the majority of Whitbread’s water consumption classed
as domestic, the new target is directly comparable to the UK
government’s goal to cut household water consumption by 20% by
2037. Whitbread, however, has brought the target date for its
hotels forward by 7 years.
The UK hospitality sector may have to face
increasing challenges around water stress. In August 2022 the
Environment Agency declared a drought in 8 of its 14 areas across
the UK and water restrictions are expected to become more frequent
as global temperatures rise.
