Three students of the Erasmus+ Mundus Master in Islands and Sustainability (ISLANDS) attended, on April 26th, the final event to present the results of CAPonLITTER for Fuerteventura, a project linked to the development of tools for the reduction of single-use plastics in tourist accommodation, which has been led by the ECOAQUA institute of the ULPGC, and funded by Interreg Europe, with support from the Cabildo of Fuerteventura and the Fuerteventura Tourist Board.
The meeting took place in 'The Show Factory' in Caleta de Fuste, where managers of nine hotel establishments on the island presented their progress in the elimination, reduction and replacement of single-use plastics in some of their products, a process they have developed under the audit of Travel Without Plastic, commissioned by the Fuerteventura Tourist Board.
The hotels participating in the event presented the difficulties they have identified during the process and their plans for further improvement in reducing plastic waste in their daily operations, without compromising customer satisfaction and the quality of their services, such as switching from single-dose coffee creamers to more sustainable alternatives and replacing capsule coffee machines with more traditional ones, thus eliminating the use of products with plastic packaging.
One of these resorts presented the practical case of how they have replaced their supply of butter from single serving plastic containers to larger ones wrapped in foil, and how it had changed disposable baking tins for aesthetic and reusable ceramic molds. The result not only affects sustainability, but has improved the visitor experience. The presentations highlighted that since Fuerteventura is both a sun and beach and ecotourism destination, reusable tableware and cookware help to improve the image linked to sustainability values.
Travel Without Plastic has worked in the last 8 months with a total of 15 hotels, achieving a reduction of 35 tons of single-use plastic per year, with an average monthly cost savings in disposable products of 31.5% and an annual cost reduction for the hotels of almost 100,000 euros. Among the results of this line of work, which is included in Action 2 of CAPonLITTER, are the different resources generated by Travel Without Plastic for the island's hotels, including best practice guides, a directory of suppliers of sustainable alternatives and materials to support communication with clients.
The event, which was attended by the Councillor for Tourism of the Cabildo of Fuerteventura, Marlene Figueroa Martin, and the director of the Biosphere Reserve of Fuerteventura, Tony Gallardo Campos, also involved several product companies present in the Canary Islands, which offer sustainable alternatives to hotels and resorts, to reduce plastic consumption.
On behalf of the ECOAQUA Institute, Candy Cecilia Ruano, researcher of the BIOCON group, presented the key aspects of the participatory process carried out with key stakeholders in Fuerteventura and the main results and impacts of the project, whose Action Plan for the island will have continuity of implementation, in alignment with the Strategic Tourism Plan of Fuerteventura 2022-2026.
As an example of the sustainability efforts being made, a success story was presented, among others, that of the company Xeira Canarias, which produces amenities such as shampoo, shower gel and single-use body oil in convenient single-dose containers that are totally plastic-free, 100% biodegradable and environmentally friendly.
Simple innovations such as these offer hotels and resorts the opportunity to drastically reduce the use of plastic, while still offering the level of quality and convenience that guests expect.
However, the participating professionals did not only talk about success stories. Hotel establishments conveyed that they often find that guests continue to throw away reusable cups or take them home as souvenirs. Not only is this an added cost for hotel and resort managers, but the product is not used often enough to offset the environmental impact of its production and distribution.
Jo Hendrickx, founder of Travel Without Plastic, also spoke about how to detect greenwashing by labeling products and selecting those that can really contribute to the reduction of plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition to celebrating the progress of participating hotel establishments, this meeting of the Fuerteventura CAPonLITTER Project, attended by Jody Holland, Ena Peeva and Hannah Kasak-Gliboff, students of the Master Islands coordinated by Rodrigo Riera, researcher of the BIOCON group, was an excellent way to network and connect with the sustainable tourism ecosystem in the Canary Islands, as well as to foster local connections between business owners, organizers, researchers and students.
Photo - Patrycja Klepin.