The ITC Grand Chola Hotel, Guindy was awarded the ‘Swachh Hotel’ award on Monday as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021 by the Greater Chennai Corporation, for its sustained initiatives in solid waste management.

“We wanted to recognize individuals and organizations that help us in our drive to minimize waste sent to landfills and create a sustainable solid waste management system,” said a Corporation official. In a statement, the civic body said several organizations, NGOs, restaurants, hospitals, markets, residents welfare organizations have contributed in their own way towards Corporation’s initiatives to create a clean city. On average, around 5,000 metric tons of waste is collected in city daily.

Speaking to Express, Zubin Songadwala, General Manager, ITC Grand Chola and Area Manager, ITC Hotels, South said that for over a decade ITC Hotels has pursued the path of ‘Responsible Luxury’ where every action attempts to be in harmony with the environment and society. “We stopped using single-use plastic in our premises from January 2020 and produce our own water bottles in our plant which is then filled with purified water.

Even if someone says that they want a sealed water bottle and not our in-house water, we make sure we have glass bottles in stock for that,” he said. “Even as far as the amenities in the rooms go, we stopped using disposable plastic razors and toothbrushes and instead have turned to bamboo toothbrushes and razors with bamboo handles. Nothing on our takeaway menu comes in plastic packaging- it is either paper, cardboard, or corn starch packaging,” he added.

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