As Meliá Hotels International works towards a plastic-free environment at its properties, the Spanish hotel group is making sure that what plastic it does use is having minimal impact on our planet. Meliá Hanoi and Meliá Ba Vi Mountain Retreat are the first hotels in Vietnam to launch PlasticShreds, an upcycle initiative that repurposes plastic already in circulation. The initiative, organized by the global cleaning and hygiene products manufacturer Diversey, converts single-use plastic into plastic chips that are then combined with bitumen or asphalt for smoothing surfaces from roads to badminton courts. “While plastic waste is a global problem, certain countries are experiencing the issue more than others,” said Ignacio Martin, Managing Director Southeast Asia at Meliá Hotels International. “Vietnam is one of the most stricken countries in the world – when it comes to plastic pollution – and we have to play our part to tackle the problem from all angles, by removing, reusing, and recycling.” A core element of the PlasticShreds program is removing and replacing plastic as the first priority, which is in line with Meliá’s own sustainability mission. Meliá properties have been actively working to reduce single-use plastic since 2018 and have already banned certain products, such as single-use plastic straws, replacing them with more natural alternatives. Since 2019, Meliá Ba Vi has been replacing plastic amenities with eco – friendly products. By the end of this year, the resort plans to completely eliminate single-use plastic packaging and carrier bags, and to continue phasing out plastic for glass water bottles. Meliá Hanoi will replace all plastic bottles with glass bottles by the end of this year. While the final destinations of Meliá’s plastic chips are still to be determined, similar projects have been successful overseas in roads and pavements in India and Malaysia. According to Diversey a 20-meter long pavement construction could use as much as 172 liters of plastic chips – roughly the amount created by 8,200 500ml bottles. For the launch event at Meliá Hanoi the hotel collected 3,000 bottles that were then used to help educate interested guests and team members on how to use the PlasticShreds machine. Moving forward the machine will be moved between the Meliá properties, allowing them to shred plastic on-site. Meliá has partnered with Diveresy on several sustainability projects, such as Linens For Life and Soap for Hope. Both initiatives involve transforming materials such as leftover soap and old linen, into new (sterilized) soap bars and products for people in need, such as all-purpose bags, sleeping bags and soft toys for children, and school uniforms.

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Hoping to inspire more Thais to recycle plastic waste, two local companies have teamed up to make Buddhist amulets by using nine types of recyclable materials ranging from plastic bottles to nylon fishing nets. Predominantly Buddhist Thailand is estimated to be the fifth-biggest contributor of plastic to the world’s oceans, according to a report by the US-based group Ocean Conservancy. “The idea of the plastic amulet is a result of finding a connection between the environment and Thai culture,” said Krit Phutpim, a director at Dots Design Studio, one of the companies behind the project launched at Bangkok‘s design week exhibition. Thai amulets with Buddhist imagery are extremely popular in the Southeast Asian country and many hope they will enhance their spirituality and bring them good fortune. The Buddha amulet launched this week has the Thai word for “awareness” on the back to remind people to be conscious that their daily consumption should not harm the environment, said Teerachai Suppameteekulwat, the founder of the other company behind the project Qualy Design. The amulets, which have been blessed by monks, are distributed in exchange for at least 1 kg of plastic or a minimum of 100 baht (S$4.16) for each amulet with the money going to various charities. The project has generated some controversy on social media, with questions about whether an amulet should be made from recycled materials. Typically, amulets are made from materials such as bone, wood or metal. They may contain, for example, the ash from incense burnt at a temple or hair from a monk that is thought to further increase the wearer’s powers. For one exhibition goer, the idea of giving recycled material a new use attracted her to the amulet. “I brought in 1.8 kilogrammes of plastic bottles. I want to give it a new life,” said 33-year-old exhibition goer, Paramapon Suthichavengkul.

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