Sustainability is becoming increasingly essential in decision-making among travelers, specifically travel groups that review sustainability policies. As a response, large hospitality brands are setting environmental targets, seeking to lead change in their industry by setting the path toward decreasing their landfill waste significantly. KOPU Water aims to help the industry change the status quo, revitalizing and changing the course of sustainability as we know it, by offering a product and service that is deeply resonating within properties that serve the most discerning of consumers.
The Challenge
KOPU, an American premium water brand serving luxury and upscale restaurants, resorts, and hotels in the hospitality industry, sought to change how water was presented to increase recycling and thus change sustainability habits within the industry. To do so would mean breaking away from the commonly used glass bottles and diverting from plastic, cardboard, or multi-layered substrate solutions that didn’t fit the sustainability or luxury credentials they were seeking to achieve.
The Solution
KOPU Water turned to Trivium Packaging for its aluminum bottles, which provide a sleek elegance, durability, and the sustainability credentials they sought to achieve.
Aluminum is infinitely recyclable and holds high value in the market, providing the circularity they were seeking. However, the issue of ensuring the bottles would be appropriately collected and recycled remains a daily problem faced by the hospitality industry. As such, KOPU developed the KOPU Aluminum Stewardship program (“KAS”), which installs front-of-house and back-of-house recycling receptacles for all aluminum containers used by guests or the hotel service on the property. Front-of-house receptacles were beautifully branded to seamlessly fit within the décor and ambiance of the property, with clear signage and easy access for guests to recycle. Back-of-house receptacles offered clear, easy access to collection bins for recycling by staff.
The receptacles also serve as a tracking method for success. KOPU water and the property can count the collected bottles against the number of bottles ordered, generating a capture rate. In addition, they also collect bottles from other brands, increasing the recycling rates. KOPU Water then recycles the bottles directly to a local recycling plant, and on average, new bottles can be made within 60 days.
The Results
KOPU Water and the properties they work with noticed a substantial impact in switching from imported glass bottles to KOPU’s 85% recycled-content aluminum bottles. Using KOPU’s bottles and collection system, a single property eliminated 52 tons of landfill waste in one year, approximately 5% of the total. In addition, the project has driven the property’s conversion from glass to aluminum in other categories, such as beer.