NATURAL CAPITAL

Environmental sustainability

Being environmentally responsible is entrenched in the CLHG ethos. Over the years the group has implemented policies, practices and targets to mitigate our impact on the environment. We continually analyse, manage and monitor environmental impact across our brands.

At every opportunity, we encourage our stakeholders to join us on our sustainability journey.

We are always looking for ways to reduce our impact on the environment. After a successful pilot test at Road Lodge Centurion, we completed the installation of solar power generation at a further 24 hotels throughout the group. Magnesium enriched water from hydration stations is being rolled out in each hotel to reduce the volume of bottled water used and the resulting single-use plastic waste. Guests can purchase aluminium bottles – or top up their own bottles – with filtered water. We have also eliminated all plastics from our range of guest bathroom amenities with the implementation of our new Zero Bar range.

The group did not conduct a formal carbon footprint measurement this year. However, we are confident that with significant reductions in absolute electricity and water use; less waste generated and sent to landfill; and less business travel, our total carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) would have shown a favourable decline when compared to the prior period.

Specific sustainability focus areas

Energy consumption

Our hotels and supporting infrastructure primarily use electricity generated by the national energy providers in the countries where we operate. As power outages, or ‘blackouts’, are relatively common across Africa, all our hotels are installed with backup diesel generators.

The bulk of the group’s energy consumption results from water heating, air-conditioning, lighting, and laundry operations. As these functions generate 80% to 90% of our carbon footprint, mitigating their effects remains a key focus area. Our total energy consumption for the period was 23.7 million kWh (2019: 28.5 million kWh).

Sustainable energy management programmes at each hotel enables a focus on operational and technical efficiencies. Our absolute energy consumption across all our hotels decreased by 17% (2019: 0.4%). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown, all hotels were forced to close for varying periods of time from the end of March up until the end of the reporting period. Even when closed for guests and not selling rooms, the hotels still consume electricity. This has an adverse effect on the energy consumption per occupied room, which increased by 19%.

Electricity consumption (per occupied room and per available room) and the resultant per room costs were:

Brand		kWh per occupied room 2020		kWh per occupied room 2019			Cost per occupied room R 2020		Cost per occupied room R 2019			kWh per available room 2020		kWh per available room 2019			Cost per available room R 2020		Cost per available room R 2019
Courtyard	↑	35.1		31.9		↑	70.58		58.08		↓	10.5		13.2		↓	21.04		24.01
City Lodge	↑	22.6		19.8		↑	36.71		30.52		↓	8.7		10.8		↓	15.35		17.62
Town Lodge	↑	22.9		17.1		↑	43.65		30.88		↓	7.5		8.9		↓	14.66		15.20
Road Lodge	↑	15.0		12.4		↑	32.40		25.57		↓	6.8		8.8		↓	14.71		16.74

Renewable energy

The installation of solar power generation at 25 hotels was completed during the second half of 2019.

Our solar installations have produced 1.6 million kWh during the period. This helped us to reduce the total amount of energy purchased from national energy providers by 22% when compared to the same period last year.

During the lockdown period, we generated 12% more solar energy than being used during the daytime, which unfortunately cannot be shared or sold yet. A total of 202 176 kWh of unusable solar energy was generated that could be sold into national grids in future.

Water consumption

Reducing water consumption remains a joint effort between our hotels, staff, and guests. Never before was this more evident than during the recent severe drought conditions experienced in South Africa's Western Cape. Although this crisis is over for now, the water saving practices we learned have remained across the group.

Proactive guest behaviour helped reduce water consumption and we continue to encourage water discipline without minimising the guest experience.

Our new and refurbished hotels reduced the number of rooms with baths to approximately 60% of the total complement. We also installed low-flow showerheads and taps, while evaluating other ways to reduce overall water consumption.

All water for guest and operational use is drawn from municipal supplies, excepting our Kenyan hotels, where most of the water is supplied by boreholes. In isolated instances in South Africa, we use borehole water for watering hotel grounds.

The total water consumption for the period was 436 013 kℓ (2019: 542 629 kℓ), which shows a 106 616 kℓ (20%) decrease from the prior period.

As with electricity consumption, water consumption was significantly reduced by the COVID-19 lockdowns and hotel closures.

Brand		kℓ per occupied room 2020		kℓ per occupied room 2019			Cost per occupied room R 2020		Cost per occupied room R 2019			kℓ per available room 2020		kℓ per available room 2019			Cost per available room R 2020		Cost per available room R 2019
Courtyard	↑	1.14		0.84		↑	37.10		28.89		↓	0.34		0.35		↓	11.06		11.94
City Lodge	↑	0.35		0.32		↑	13.30		10.71		↓	0.13		0.17		↓	5.56		6.18
Town Lodge	↑	0.37		0.34		↑	12.79		10.31		↓	0.12		0.18		↓	4.30		5.08
Road Lodge	↑	0.32		0.26		↑	8.66		7.20		↓	0.14		0.18		↓	3.93		4.71

We are also responsible for managing water quality at our properties, which is achieved by using biodegradable chemicals and products, installing grease traps, and implementing saltwater chlorinators for swimming pools.

Waste and recycling

The volume of solid waste generated by our hotels is relatively low compared to full-service hotels. Nevertheless, we leverage existing opportunities to recycle paper, glass, plastics, aluminium and steel cans. Waste is mostly prepared for recycling on our premises to minimise the volumes sent to landfills. We continue seeking cost-effective solutions to further reduce our waste-to-landfill.

Water filling stations for guests

CLHG properties offer guests the option of using aluminium refillable water bottles, which can be topped up for free, from magnesium enriched, filtered water dispensers throughout the hotel. Guests responded positively to these environmentally friendly water options.

Plastic-free amenities roll-out