Passions

Sustainability

To effect lasting change by inspiring awareness and action in our people


“Swire Hotels’ people are what makes us different. Everything we do revolves around a broad representation of team members. We see our environment changing and understand the role we have in addressing the effects of climate change. We deploy our philosophy of thinking differently to explore ways that we can improve the sustainability of our hotels, our communities and our partners.”

- Dean Winter, Managing Director of Swire Hotels

 

We are dedicated to delivering uplifting experiences to our guests, as well as to the wider communities of the cities that we are fortunate to call home. The world is changing, not just from technological and cultural advances, but also from the impact humans have on the environment. We understand that we have the power to effect change in our communities through our decisions and actions. In order to manifest this change, we start from the core of our brand - our people.

We want to create a healthy ecosystem of people who embody our values, are concerned about our impact on the environment and have the passion to always grow, inspire and innovate. 

This way, we can continue delivering wonderful experiences for now, and for many years to come.

 

What we plan to achieve

"I feel our role in protecting this world should be embraced by everyone as a sense of responsibility for our future generations."
- Jennifer Cheung, General Manager of EAST Hong Kong

  • Energy Conservation

    The hospitality industry is one of the biggest energy consumers – and yet mindless energy use is a major contributor to our carbon footprint. That's why we're committed to providing exceptional comfort for our guests but not at the expense of energy efficiency. 

    By 2025, our goal is to cut down on energy usage per guest night across all our properties by 19%* and by 2030, reduce it even further by 26%*.

    *vs a baseline in 2018 for all hotels & residences, except for The Middle House and EAST Residences which use 2019 as the baseline.

  • Water Conservation

    On average, a person uses up to 100 litres of water per day, sometimes even more during their travels. Hotels can play a significant role in water conservation, and we would like to be at the forefront of that change. 

    Through tackling water efficiency at all our properties, we are working towards reducing water intensity in all our properties by 8%* by 2025 and by 12% by 2030*.

    *vs a baseline in 2018 for all hotels & residences, except for The Middle House and EAST Residences which use 2019 as the baseline.

  • Waste Management

    From in-room water filters and removal of single-use packaging to amenities made of recyclable materials, we prioritise efforts to manage waste and prolong the lives of our everyday items through the 3Rs – Reuse, Reduce and Recycle.

    Our goal is to achieve a waste diversion rate of 28% at our Hong Kong properties and 54%* at our Chinese Mainland properties by 2025 and by 2030, increase this to 34% in Hong Kong and 58%* in the Chinese Mainland.

    *vs a baseline in 2018 for all hotels & residences, except for The Middle House and EAST Residences which use 2019 as the baseline.

SMALL ACTIONS, BIG CHANGES

As we strive to inspire changes through our people, our team members are always looking for ways to make the Swire Hotels journey more sustainable while offering guest exceptional services. In the various initiatives and experiences that they have created, their creativity and passion for a greener future shines through. 

At The Temple House, our commitment to sustainability is exemplified by Mi Xun Teahouse, our MICHELIN-starred vegetarian restaurant. Our "Farm-to-Table"  Tasting Menu features eco-friendly ingredients sourced from local communities around panda conservation areas. In September 2024, Mi Xun Teahouse was awarded Chengdu’s first-ever MICHELIN Green Star, recognising our sustainable practices and zero-waste initiatives. 

More often than not, renovation means brand new everything. But at our newly refreshed central support office, we've made sustainability the priority. Green initiatives feature throughout, including ceiling tiles upcycled into the open office area, LED lights in all fixtures and our former conference room table repurposed into wall finish. 

Oyster reefs are crucial to coastal protection and supporting marine ecosystems. But, they are also the most endangered marine habitat on the planet.
Together with The Nature Conservancy, we are collecting oyster shells from our restaurants FEAST at EAST Hong Kong and Salisterra at The Upper House, with more than 900kg to contribute to reef restoration in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

The environmental impact of food waste is huge. At EAST Hong Kong and The Temple House, all kitchen waste is sorted and we utilise ORCA technology to turn up to 270kg of food waste daily into an eco-friendly liquid that can go down the drain instead of into the landfill, helping to reduce our carbon footprint. 

Bao Beer is the latest sustainability project by the Sugar team at EAST Hong Kong. Using surplus bread from our hotel, the rooftop bar and lounge worked in collaboration with local brewery H.K. Lovecraft to transform it into 2,000 litres of beer. This zero-waste initiative saved over 35 kilos of bread while the spent breadcrumbs and grains were donated to a nearby farm for use as animal feed and fertiliser. 

Millions of trees are cut down every year for disposable coffee cups. We’re doing our small part to change that. At EAST Hong Kong, Domain offers the reusable HuskeeCup, made from an eco-composite polymer featuring coffee husks, while at EAST Beijing and The Temple House, coffee drinkers can opt for a branded reusable cup made of made of bamboo powder, rich hush, crop straw and other natural plant fibres. 

Water Conservation

Water is one of our planet's most precious natural resources. We're committed to reducing our consumption, and these are some of the ways we're doing it.

The Temple Café, TIVANO and Mi Xun Tea House at The Temple House received the "Three Leaf Award", Swire Properties' Green Kitchen Initiative, for its sustainable renovation decisions, including installation of water economisers on all water taps and LEED-CI standard water saving dish washing machines to reduce water usage.

Every drop matters. At EAST Miami, we collect rainwater in a cistern tank and use it to refill the cooling towers and to irrigate our property. It may be a small action but it has double the impact, reducing the consumption of both water and energy.

At The Upper House, we’ve outfitted all the guest rooms with a water filtration system to purify local tap water on-site, making it safe for guests to enjoy whilst reducing our carbon footprint. From September to December 2021, we saved over 7,000 bottles of water, which amounts to a 70% reduction in consumption since the launch of this initiative.

Water conservation is important in every aspect of our hotels. At The Temple House and The Middle House, we’ve replaced the kitchens’ faucet aerators with higher flow rate models to decrease water usage, resulting in an annual reduction of 3,000m3, 2,400m3 and 120m3 respectively.

Across all EAST properties, we’ve fitted flow controllers onto guest room water taps and showers. At EAST Hong Kong, for example, this has meant an estimated average of 1,040 liters of water saved daily. 

Say bye to bottles. Instead of bottled water, we’ve placed filtered drinking water systems in all our guest rooms at EAST hotels for a cleaner, more sustainable experience.

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Energy conservation

Energy conservation is key in lessening our carbon footprint. Here are the steps we're taking towards making a difference.

Every little bit helps when it comes to making positive changes. Our restaurants have been reducing energy through Swire Properties’ Green Kitchen Initiatives, a platform to reduce energy and water usage and improve air quality and waste management to enhance sustainability.  The Green Kitchen Awards celebrate venues making a noticeable impact – and we’re delighted that some of our restaurants were awarded the highest “Three Leaf Rating” last year. 

We designed The Middle House to reduce our carbon footprint. We use reclaimed water system for toilet flushing, solar hot water in the kitchen and LED lamps throughout our House. Beyond just removing plastic straws and stirrers in all our restaurants and bars, we also worked closely with the property management to launch a waste-recycling program in the complex, helping to generate renewable electricity.

At EAST Hong Kong, lighting is automatically switched off when guestrooms are empty and the temperature is kept at a standard level. In the lobby and restaurants, dimming systems offer atmospheric lighting with less power consumption and from 11pm-6am, our gym BEAST uses motion sensors to turn off the lights and TV when unoccupied. Plus, the hotel’s decorative outdoor lighting is only on from 5:30pm to 10:45pm each day.

Between June and September 2021, The Upper House's Engineering team replaced 1,532 xelogen festoon lamps with more sustainable, energy-saving LED lighting in the guest floor corridors. This small action will result in an annual saving of 33,551 kilowatt hours.

Science meets art in EAST Miami's most eye-catching eco-feature, a sculptural Climate Ribbon canopy that soars above the outdoor spaces. This ultra-cool feature traps sea winds, lowers temperatures and collects rainwater for re-use; creating a pleasant microclimate that reduces the need for air conditioning.
 

Waste Management

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Waste management is our priority and we are actively thinking of new approaches to tackle this challenge.

We have introduced carefully designed tech-enabled improvements in guestrooms and restaurants across all properties in Hong Kong. By scanning a QR code in the room, an extensive range of services are only a few taps away on the integrated app StayPlease. With digital menus launched at both EAST Hong Kong and EAST Miami, diners can now enjoy a paperless dining experience while making more responsible choices for the environment.

Since 2018, The House Collective has partnered with wellness brand Bamford to supply its in-room amenities which were designed with aluminum tubes. 100% recyclable, the packaging helps reducing the amount of plastic consumption by over 3000kg.

Salisterra at The Upper House has installed an in-house water filtration system from Belu, a UK-based social enterprise. For a nominal charge, guests can enjoy unlimited still or sparkling water, helping to reduce the carbon footprint of single-use bottles. Social impact is also created, with 100% Belu's profits given to global water charity Water Aid, to help bring clean water to communities worldwide.

Part of our journey towards sustainability is raising awareness of climate change and nature loss. This year, we marked Earth Hour across our properties. At The Upper House, we switched off our lights in public areas and swapped in candlelight, while at The Temple House, busy urbanites and in-house guests gathered for a singing bowl healing session in support of environmental protection. EAST properties also participated by turning off the façade and other non-essential lighting.

SD DIALOGUE

SD Dialogue is a candid bi-monthly conversation with people from all walks of business who are passionate about sustainability, hosted by Jennifer Cheung, General Manager of EAST Hong Kong. Together, Jennifer and her guests openly and honestly share their unique perspectives on various sustainable development topics, with the goal of inspiring each of us to contribute to a more sustainable world.
 

  • Going Green Together with Green Kitchen

    We're proud of our Green Kitchens, which are efficiently designed to reduce water, waste and energy. Our chefs speak with the next generation to share how we're committed to a green future with Green Kitchen!

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    THE JOURNEY BEHIND OUR Michelin FARM TO TABLE MENU: WITH CHEF TONY, QI YUN, AND KYLIE LAM

    To celebrate the Lunar New Year, Executive Chef of Mi Xun Teahouse, Tony Xu, launched a farm-to-table Michelin tasting menu in collaboration with Qi Yun, local farmer and artist. To better understand the process behind the group’s first Michelin farm-to-table menu, Kylie Lam, Hotel Manager and Sustainability Ambassador of The Temple House, sat down with Tony and Qi Yun. Now, she shares with us the documented process behind the event.

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    IN CONVERSATION WITH EDITECTURE: HOW SUSTAINABILITY DRIVES THEIR DESIGN STUDIO

    Jennifer Cheung, General Manager of EAST Hong Kong visits the studio of Jacqueline Chak and Genevieve Chew, co-founders of multidisciplinary design studio EDITECTURE and hears the story behind their vision of sustainability and how the idea of more plastic than fish in the sea led to educating the next generation. 

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    Jennifer Cheung x Michael Lee

    Jennifer Cheung sits down with Michael Lee, Area Back of House Manager of EAST Hong Kong to chat about her passion for sustainability and how she looks to inspire the people around her. 

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MEET OUR SUSTAINABILITY AMBASSADORS

To help reach our 3 KPIs, each of our hotels have dedicated Sustainability Ambassadors to help drive green efforts. Creative, passionate, and full of character – our people seek to drive positive changes towards sustainability by thinking differently and taking simple actions in their daily lives.

  • Jennifer Cheung

    General Manager, EAST Hong Kong

    “If we don’t act today, then when?”

    Lawrence Wong

    Director of Housekeeping, The Upper House

    “Not one single person can do everything. But small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world. We're already seeing this happening in some places of the world, so what's stopping us from doing the same?”

    Kylie Lam

    Hotel Manager, The Temple House

    “Sustainability is everyone’s responsibility - it doesn't only sit in the hands of a few. The smallest actions can add up to a big impact, such as the initiatives we create at The Temple House. We are proud to see our team members increasingly putting efforts into integrating sustainability in their daily lives, and how motivated they are to create positive impacts for guests as well as the environment.”

    Michael Lee

    Area Back of House Manager / Event Production Manager, EAST Hong Kong

    “Over the last few years, we have been watching the extreme weather become more and more serious. This should be a wake-up call that if everyone doesn't change their living habits, the future generations will inherit a completely different world. If not for ourselves - act now to bring a better world to the next generation.” 

    Bob Ren

    Executive Assistant Manager, EAST Beijing

    “Sustainability may be tough for some to adopt because although it is one of the most important acts, it's also one of the most selfless. We act today, for a better tomorrow. A tomorrow that we may not see, but that our kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids will."

    Anita Lee

    People & Culture Manager, Headland Hotel

    "A healthy planet equals a happy life, and a happy life leads to happy team members. It's that simple! "

  • Swire Properties SD 2030 vision

    As part of our long term approach to sustainability, we are whole-heartedly committed to Swire Properties’ SD 2030 vision. The holistic strategy focused on constant development in the areas of Places, People, Partners, Environmental Performance, and Economic Performance.

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    SD In Action 2022

    Swire Hotels continues to strive towards sustainability, and we're proud to share our latest report on our efforts in 2022. Check out the link below to see how we're making a difference.

    We're proud to contribute towards a better future.

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