Abu Dhabi: The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort and Spa has taken a giant step towards sustainability by recycling food waste into natural compost that can be added to the soil.
The hotel has installed a machine called the Waste Food Eater that can devour up to 600 kilograms of waste food at one go.
Sebastien Weyer, Director of Engineering, said the hotel recycles between 150 and 200kg of food generated by six restaurants daily, including the staff canteen that caters up to 250 people.
“Our staff is trained to segregate food waste. All kinds of waste food, including vegetables, meat and even bones can be processed into fertiliser by the machine. There is zero wastage of food ever since we got the machine in March. We are fast moving towards the concept of being a green hotel,” said Weyer.
The machine installed by Dubai-based Union Papers processes food waste into one-third its size by generating heat and through high-pressure mixing. “The moisture is removed from food and the extracted water is drained out through a pipe,” said Weyer. It takes 10 hours to complete a single cycle, and the end product, a dry brown soil-like powder, is currently used to fertilise the hotel’s herb garden growing organic vegetables.
Marketing Manager Jonathan Hallmark said the hotel is piloting the initiative in the Starwood managed hotels in the UAE. “The machine will soon be rolled out in seven Starwood hotels in Abu Dhabi as part of our green initiative to cut down on carbon footprints.”
The natural fertiliser produced by the decomposing machine is currently being tested and graded by the Al Ain Environment and Water Laboratory. Hallmark said the hotel has plans to distribute the natural compost to local farmers and buy local produce from them for the hotel kitchen.
