In partnership with Clean the World
PPHE joined Clean the World’s Global Hospitality Recycling Programme in November 2024. In just over 18 months, 17 PPHE properties from across the UK and the Netherlands have collected and diverted over 25,000kg (1) of plastic bathroom amenities. To put that into perspective, that’s approximately the weight of 17 family cars from a waste stream that would otherwise have ended up in landfill.
For many organisations, that figure alone would represent success. However, the real story extends far beyond the materials collected. Hospitality organisations are under growing pressure to demonstrate measurable ESG progress and provide evidence that environmental initiatives are delivering tangible outcomes. Yet, for many hotels, some operational waste streams remain difficult to measure, track and report consistently.
Sustainability is no longer defined solely by commitments and ambitions, and PPHE’s approach demonstrates how an often-overlooked operational waste stream can contribute to wider sustainability objectives whilst also generating meaningful environmental data across an entire hotel portfolio.
Programme Snapshot
- PPHE Hotel Group x Clean the World (June 2026)
- Participating Properties: 17
- Participating Guest Rooms: 5,149
- Plastic Amenities Collected: 25,777 kg
- Countries Covered: United Kingdom and the Netherlands
- Programme Start Date: November 2024
Connecting Waste Management with ESG Reporting
When PPHE Hotel Group joined Clean the World’s Global Hospitality Recycling Programme, the objective was never simply to collect used bathroom dispensers (4). For them, amenity waste needed to become more than an operational by-product. It needed to become a measurable part of the Group’s wider ESG reporting framework.
Within its ESG strategy, PPHE highlights the importance of strengthening communication and data collection across the business to demonstrate how teams are collectively contributing towards shared environmental and social objectives, a challenge many hospitality organisations recognise.(2)
While energy consumption, water use and carbon emissions are routinely measured, waste, a contributor to (6), often remains one of the least visible areas of hotel operations. Data can be fragmented across properties, suppliers and waste streams, making it difficult to understand performance at portfolio level.
By introducing a structured process for collecting and reporting amenity waste via Clean the World’s Impact reporting System, PPHE created greater visibility into a category that has historically been difficult to measure consistently across multiple properties.
According to Alex Matulina, ESG Manager at PPHE Hotel Group:
“The data gathered through the Clean the World platform is monitored on a quarterly basis and at the end of the year feeds into PPHE’s annual ESG report. Regular monitoring is also useful to understand how properties are performing in terms of recycling activities.”
Supporting Broader Sustainability Objectives
Clean the World’s hospitality recycling programme contributes far beyond better waste management. Through the collection and responsible management of discarded amenities, it improves resource efficiency, supports circularity and generates environmental data that can be incorporated into wider sustainability reporting.
These outcomes align closely with PPHE Hotel Group’s ESG strategy, which is built around four key pillars:
- Properties
- Local Communities
- Supply Chain
- People (2)
The Group also aligns its sustainability activities with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and, through its most recent materiality assessment conducted in 2025, has identified carbon emissions, sustainable procurement, water consumption and community engagement as key priorities. (2)
The programme directly supports several of these objectives, particularly:
- SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities
- SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
- SDG 13 – Climate Action (5)
As sustainability reporting continues to evolve, initiatives that combine practical operational action with measurable environmental outcomes are becoming increasingly valuable.
The Importance of Operational Engagement
One of the most revealing lessons from the programme had little to do with recycling itself. It was about people.
As Alex explains:
“A key learning point was the need to guide the hotels throughout the implementation, to ensure their buy-in and that they understand the programme’s importance. The housekeeping team in particular plays a critical role in this process, therefore training them to deal with the new dispensers has been central to the success of the programme.”
The insight is an important one. Sustainability programmes rarely succeed because of strategy alone. They succeed because operational teams understand their role and are empowered to deliver them consistently.
For PPHE, housekeeping teams are central to implementation. Without their support, transforming a sustainability objective into a practical process embedded across multiple properties simply would not happen.
Looking Beyond Waste Reduction
Before introducing recyclable dispensers across its hotels in 2024, PPHE used miniature amenity bottles. The introduction of larger dispensers significantly reduced the amount of plastic generated across the portfolio to reflect a more sustainable approach.
According to Alex:
“Prior to introducing the recyclable dispensers in 2024, all PPHE hotels used to have mini amenity bottles. For years these were collected by a partner, who would recover the content wherever possible to donate it to various charities and recycle the bottles. While introducing the dispensers radically reduced the amount of plastic generated in our hotels, the partnership with Clean the World is essential to ensure that the amount we still produce is disposed of in the best way possible through recycling. In particular, Clean the World’s process by which the liquid is removed and the pump separated is key to achieving this objective.”
Reducing waste is important, but so too does understanding what happens to the materials that remain and ensuring they are managed responsibly at end of life.
A Simple Change with Meaningful Results
Reflecting on the partnership, Alex summarises its wider value:
“By collecting and recycling our bathroom dispensers with Clean the World, at PPHE Hotel Group we’re not only diverting valuable materials from landfill but also contributing to a circular system that gives these materials a second life. This initiative allows us to turn what was once waste into a resource, while supporting a partner whose social impact reaches communities around the world. It’s a simple change with meaningful results and a powerful step forward in our journey toward more responsible and sustainable hotel operations.”
Sources
(1) Clean the World Internal Programme Reporting Data, June 2026.
(2) PPHE Hotel Group ESG Strategy
PPHE Hotel Group ESG Strategy
(3) Statista – Hotel Industry in the United Kingdom (UK)
Statista UK Hotel Industry Data
(4) Clean the World & PPHE Hotel Group Partnership Announcement
Clean the World and PPHE Hotel Group Partnership Announcement
(5) United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
(6) Carbon Trust, Scope 3 Emissions
