Hotels use a wide variety of products every day, ranging from linens and uniforms to mattresses, key cards, amenities, food, and cleaning supplies.
Circularity affects many aspects of a hotel, including energy, water, buildings, materials, food, and transportation. In this article, we focus primarily on materials and food: two areas where hotels can often begin by making practical changes.
Many products still follow a traditional model: buy, use, and replace. Circularity encourages hotels to think differently: use fewer resources, keep products in use longer, repair or reuse them, and recycle only when there is no better option.
For hotel operators, this is becoming increasingly relevant. In a circular economy, waste is minimized as much as possible, and materials remain in use for longer. The transition to a circular economy is already underway: legislation is changing, raw materials are becoming scarcer, and expectations from guests, employees, and other stakeholders are rising. Hotels that anticipate these developments can become more future-ready and resilient. Smarter use of materials can also reduce unnecessary purchases, waste, and costs.
Understand what you already use
Start by taking a look at the products and materials that regularly pass through your hotel.
Think about:
- Linens and towels
- Staff uniforms
- Mattresses and Beds
- Furniture and fixtures
- Key Cards
- Guest amenities
- Cleaning products
- Food and Kitchen Supplies
Before asking how a product can be recycled, first ask whether you can avoid using it, use less of it, keep it in use longer, repair it, or reuse it. Then consider why products are replaced and what happens to them afterward. This approach helps identify opportunities to prevent waste and makes recycling the last step rather than the first solution.
Use products for longer
Circularity goes beyond recycling. One of its most important principles is keeping products in use for as long as possible.
For example, Blycolin examines the entire lifecycle of hotel linens, from sourcing and laundering to quality control and reuse. By Rockland takes a similar approach to corporate apparel by considering durability and recyclability during the design process.
Sometimes circular options may cost more up front. But if a product lasts 10 years instead of 5 and costs only slightly more, it can provide better value over time. Hotels can therefore look beyond the initial purchase price and also consider quality, lifespan, repairability, and opportunities for reuse.
Think about the end before you buy
Before buying something new, consider what will happen when the product reaches the end of its useful life. Some procurement departments already develop end-of-life plans for products such as furniture. Auping, for example, develops circular mattresses that can be disassembled so that the materials can be reused to make new mattresses.
The same principle can apply to many hotel products. Ask:
- Do we even need to buy this product?
- Can it be repaired and reused?
- Can individual parts be replaced instead of replacing the entire product?
- Can it be repurposed or put to a second use?
- Does the supplier offer a take-back program?
- Can you use the product as a service instead of buying it?
- If none of these options work, can the materials be recycled into new products?
Thinking about these questions before making a purchase can help prevent products from becoming waste later on.
Turn waste into a resource
Some materials that hotels currently discard may still have value. Eco Concept Group, for example, works with circular products and can transform existing materials, such as old textiles, into new products.
Food deserves the same attention. Food waste can be reduced by planning purchases based on actual demand, buying in bulk when it makes operational sense, using ingredients more efficiently, and avoiding unnecessary overproduction. Combining orders and deliveries can also help reduce unnecessary transport trips. Even used cooking oil can be collected and reused as biofuel.
This changes the question from:
“How do we get rid of this?”
to:
“How can we reuse this material or resource?”
Start small
A hotel doesn't have to become fully circular overnight. Start with one area—such as linens, food, furniture, or amenities—and examine the entire process from purchase to the end of its useful life.
Ask four simple questions:
- Can we avoid it or use less of it?
- Can we use it for a longer period of time?
- Can we repair, reuse, or repurpose it?
- What is the best next use before recycling becomes necessary?
Circular hospitality begins by making smarter use of the resources that already enter and move through the hotel.
