50 Hotels of India’s Taj Group Achieve EarthCheck Gold Certification
A world-first milestone in sustainable and responsible tourism management, 50 individual hotels from India’s Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, one of Asia’s largest hotel companies achieved Earth Check Gold Certification. Individual hotels in the Taj Group portfolio, ranging from Rambagh Palace, Jaipur to Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences, London, have been awarded Earth Check Gold Certification, with data revealing an average 28.6% reduction in energy, water and waste and USD $ 6,107,585 in savings for the group. Stewart Moore, Founder and CEO, Earth Check said that Taj is the first hotel group in the world to have 50 hotels achieve Gold Certification in the same year, having completed a minimum of five years of continuous bench marking through Earth Check Certified.
Explaining the relation between planet and business Moore said, “We believe what’s good for the planet can also be good for business, and we are thrilled to release such positive data-based evidence of cost and resource savings for these Taj Group hotels as we award certification.” EarthCheck Certified is a rigorous and scientifically accurate program to help the tourism industry benchmark environmental, social, energy, legal and community performance and the design aspects of hotel buildings.
Specific global benchmarking standards include sustainable development policy, water and energy utilisation, waste management, paper usage, chemical usage, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Touted as a landmark in global standards the certification is achieved through eight-year collaboration between Earth Check.
Initiatives undertaken by individual hotels to manage and reduce their environmental footprints range from a 2.1MW wind turbine generator which supplies 70% of the annual electricity requirements at Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, to a 117m2 ‘Green Living Wall’ which insulates, absorbs noise and pollution and increases energy efficiency at Taj 51 Buckingham Gate Suites and Residences in London. Rakhee Lalvani, Associate Vice President- Public Relations, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces said “The Taj EARTH sustainability program, which is accredited by the globally recognized certification for environmental excellence in the hospitality industry – EarthCheck, is an initiative which reiterates the company’s conscious efforts towards sustainability and is aligned with the Tata ethos of keeping communities at the heart of doing business.” Since 2008, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, enrolled in EarthCheck Certified and have achieved the following milestone saving achievements:
- 558 million megajoules of energy; an 11.9% reduction, equivalent to 172,232 typical 4 person Indian households for a year
- 1.8 billion litres of water; a 24.8% reduction, equivalent to 719 Olympic sized swimming pools
- 11.4 million litres of waste; a 49.3% reduction, equivalent to 344 20ft standard cargo containers
Combined, these resource savings equate to USD$6,107,585. Currently, 77 Taj Group hotels are enrolled in EarthCheck Certified and 50 are Gold Certified.
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