The trash can liner might be the most unglamorous hero in the fight for a greener planet. But at a Motel One in Aachen, Germany, a simple swap of bin liners diverted 4.6 metric tons of waste every year — and cut the hotel's costs for that waste stream by about 30%. It's a small change with a big lesson: saving the environment and saving money can go hand in hand.
This matters because the rules are about to change. Since August 2026, a new European Union packaging regulation has been in effect, and starting in January 2030 the food service industry will no longer be allowed to buy food or toiletries packed in single-use plastic — think ketchup packets or individually wrapped bars of soap. Hotels, restaurants, and caterers are under real pressure to act. But how can a busy, fast-moving hotel stay hospitable while cutting waste?
A new report from WWF Germany, Kühne Logistics University (KLU), a German business school, and two hotel groups — Motel One and Leonardo Hotels — set out to answer that question. Together, they ran real-world pilots testing the circular economy: a system built on "reduce, reuse, reprocess and recycle." The results are clear: sustainability and profit aren't enemies.
The fruit salad project in Hamburg shows the power of going reusable. By swapping single-use buckets for reusable packaging at several Motel One locations, the hotels avoided 2,261 single-use buckets during the test period — that's 423 kilograms, or 932 pounds, of single-use plastic spared. Return rates stayed stable and few guests rejected the new packaging. "The potential cost savings from reduced residual waste, the environmental benefits, and the minimal additional effort required convinced us," said Verena Ferner, sustainability manager at the Motel One Group.
At Leonardo Hotels in Berlin and Hanover, the focus was on furniture. Instead of throwing away old chairs, tables, and beds during renovations and acquisitions, the company systematically checked whether each piece could be reused, refurbished, or fully remanufactured. A significant amount of furniture got a second life, and the lessons are now guiding other renovation projects. The same approach is expanding to materials like wood, plastics, and metals.
What makes these successes special? None of them happened in a laboratory. As Dr. Sandra Transchel, a professor at Kühne Logistics University, pointed out, the solutions were tested during normal hotel operations, which showed how vital close teamwork is between hotels, suppliers, delivery services, and recycling companies — and the motivation of everyday employees.
Guests can help too, by choosing circular hotels when they book, using waste-separation bins, and accepting reusable options or bringing their own containers. For WWF Germany, the message is simple. As circular economy expert Laura Griestop put it, the idea that protecting the environment hurts business is simply false in the hotel industry. "Those who conserve resources, avoid waste and use materials for longer can simultaneously reduce costs and strengthen their own long-term viability." The potential is there — now it's time to tap into it.