EWM kept records on the total weight of solid waste removal
from the SEB hotel area. Based on the data collected on kitchen
waste streams, a recycling plan was formulated to focus on removing
food and compostable wastes. Sorting the organic (food and
kitchen) wastes from the solid waste stream was determined to be
a method of removing the greatest single category of solid waste
from the hotel.
Earth Check certification requires at least two years of benchmarking
documenting the amount of solid waste generated by a
resort. SEB determined after three months of initial observations
that action was needed to reduce the flies in the loading dock
area. Two recycling methods were developed with the SEB Director
of Environmental Management, the kitchen staff and the steward
department staff. First, food wastes and compostable materials
were to be sorted in the kitchens into plastic 7-ga (26.5 l) buckets
with sealing lids (Fig. 4). The buckets were selected because the full
7-ga (26.5 l) bucket fell within an acceptable weight (less than 50
pounds or 23 kg) for the steward department to lift and transport.