Balancing environmental considerations and usability.
Hotel sustainability initiatives with the LIMEX Bag.

Our department operates three hotel brands: "Mitsui Garden Hotels," "The Celestine Hotels," and "sequence." The Hotel & Resort Headquarters, to which I belong, focuses on branding and PR activities for each hotel and also puts effort into promoting sustainability. In recent years, initiatives to reduce plastic usage have become a major theme, and we are promoting the implementation of environmentally friendly measures and the adoption of eco-friendly products across the entire hotel chain.

We believe that consideration for the environment is an indispensable element to remain a hotel continuously chosen by guests in the medium to long term. For example, drinking water in guest rooms uses recycled aluminum cans instead of PET bottles, starting with familiar areas.

While advancing initiatives to break away from plastic, such as setting up amenity bars where guests take only what they need to their rooms and switching to paper packaging for amenities, we wanted to work on reducing the plastic usage of the amenities themselves. Therefore, when we consulted with a business partner, they introduced LIMEX as a material that could be used for bag amenities, which are used in very large quantities at hotels.

First, I was interested to learn that the main raw material, limestone, is a material that contributes to environmental considerations. In addition, the sales representative carefully explained the effects of using LIMEX with quantitative data such as the reduction in plastic usage, allowing us to feel the merits of utilizing it. On the other hand, since we had concerns about whether it would suit the intended use this time, such as water resistance and transparency, we had them bring actual samples to check them in our hands.

For this change in amenities, the three major points of consideration were price, contribution to plastic reduction, and ease of use for users. Regarding price, the proposal kept the cost increase within an acceptable range even when compared to other materials. Also, regarding the contribution to plastic reduction, we compared it with other materials like biomass plastics, but we concluded that LIMEX aligned with our company's policy of reducing plastic usage.

Yes. When considering the public bath bags, in addition to the other materials like biomass plastics we discussed earlier, reusable items such as baskets and cloth bags also came up as options. However, LIMEX was superior in terms of water repellency and ease of folding, beyond just cost considerations, and its overall usability tailored to our needs was the deciding factor. Especially for hotels with limited storage space, the ability to fold it small for storage was a major advantage.

When preparing to gain internal consensus for the adoption, your sales staff provided extensive support, which made me feel that yours is a highly reliable company. Moreover, knowing that you already had a track record of adoption by other famous hotel chains allowed us to proceed with the introduction with peace of mind.

There has been a certain level of positive feedback from employees regarding its water resistance, meaning it's fine to put wet items inside, and the ease of folding, which doesn't take up much storage space. In hotel operations, whether it is easy for the staff to handle is also very important, so we feel it was good to introduce it. Furthermore, by calculating the actual LCA* for the introduced product and issuing a press release about the reduction in plastic usage, we have received positive voices from both inside and outside the company.

*Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): A method for scientifically and quantitatively evaluating the environmental impact of a product or service throughout its entire lifecycle or at specific stages of that lifecycle.

At present, we are focusing on bag amenities, but we want to proceed with replacing other plastic products in the hotel, such as garbage bags, displays, and cups. We are also looking forward to the development of diverse products that can be used in hotels, such as shatter-resistant flower vases.

I feel it is a material that can be deployed for a wide variety of uses. We introduced the LIMEX Bag this time, but realizing that LIMEX has many application possibilities for other products has raised our expectations. We look forward to flexible product development that not only promotes sustainability but also meets on-site needs.