Hotels taking part in pilot programme to reduce plastics

The Cyprus Hotel Association (Pasyxe) on Friday announced its participation in a pilot programme for the reduction of single-use plastics (SUPs) in tourism.

The project, “Reducing the Consumption and Disposal of Single-use Plastics in the Tourism Industry in Cyprus, Greece and Malta”, also known as “SUPMed” was launched in July 2020 and will run until 2023 with a budget of €1,279,405.

The project running across coastal tourist businesses in Cyprus, Greece and Malta and its aims are to create efficient pilot business models seeking to replace SUPs with affordable alternatives.

This will involve phasing out and replacing SUP via a bespoke free online decision-support tool (DST), which will present viable and available alternatives, taking into consideration the cost and environmental impact of each alternative across its life-cycle.

The pilot programme will result in the development of best practice guides for tourism stakeholders, businesses and NGOs across Europe, which will cover the impact of plastic waste on human health and the environment, how to reduce SUP in the tourism and other sectors and present alternatives.

The lead partner is Aspon Consulting Ltd from Cyprus, joined by Cellock Ltd and the Cyprus Hotel Association, the Heraklion Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Anelixis Development Consultants S.A. from Greece, and AIS Environment from Malta.