Q&A: Meiko on effective waste management

Meiko project manager Erwin Banares explains how the company is helping hotels and restaurants make waste management more sustainable.

Q: A number of speakers at the Hotelier Middle East Sustainability Summit brought up waste management. How much of an issue is this for hotels at the moment?

A: At the moment this is a big thing because the UAE government is pushing guidelines for greener technology. In Europe it’s been almost a decade since they introduced these waste management systems. Right now I believe that the whole of the Middle East is trying to follow this.

What does Meiko offer to help hotels and restaurants with sustainable waste management?

We’ve been pushing the environmentally-friendly products for almost a decade now. We’re pushing the waste management systems: the wet type system and dry type system. We’re entirely centralising the food waste handling in a hotel or kitchen facility and eliminating the cross over contamination, on which the guidelines are very strict.

How do you help customers reduce their water usage?

We previously have developed a system of disposing the food waste with water. But now we have a new system which is transporting the food waste using compressed air. We’re trying to eliminate the water usage when transporting the food waste. Secondly, we’ve introduced M-iQ dishwasher which reuses the water on washing the dishes, eliminating the use of new water. Also, we’re reusing the steam which is being generated on the machines and converting it back to an energy to heat up the water that is going to be used again.

How important is staff awareness when it comes to sustainability?

Staff are part of the cycle of sustainability. If we do not put some proper training, sustainability will not work on its own. If you have the right machines to do it, you also need the right staff to operate it too.

What one tip would you have for a hotel or restaurant to become more sustainable?

Hotels right now need to focus on a long term solution. They need to invest more on machines that will help them achieve their objectives for a sustainable environment. It’s just the way to move forward.