Case study: Martin’s Brussels EU Hotel – Brussels, Belgium
The hotel chain has adopted an evolving environmental management system (EMAS) and a global sustainability programme called “Tomorrow Needs Today”. The key words of the hotel group’s environmental policy are: action, information, training and incentives. By widely promoting these principles and proposing a few easy steps to follow, the Martin’s hotel has ensured that its staff, suppliers and guests can work together to minimise the hotel’s ecological footprint.
The process towards obtaining environmental certification for the EMS had started in 2010 and would lead to the dual certification of EMAS and ISO 14001 in 2012. This double certification was renewed in 2015, as well as in 2018. Martin’s Hotels was also awarded the EMAS Award 2017 in the large company category. The hotel chain has achieved significant cost and material savings thanks to its procurement policy (sourcing local and eco-labelled products, leasing equipment) and waste management (preference for refillable products, bulk purchases and donation or reuse of furniture). Gaëlle Mourlon Beernaert, the sustainability director of Martin’s Hotels, is proud of the company’s actions: “We have decreased our energy consumption by 12% while still increasing occupancy by 7%. Winning the award provides encouragement to our employees, who are very involved.”