Taj Group recognized for its social responsibility initiatives

Amongst the several sustainability initiatives that will be undertaken in the next four years, the Taj Group plans to strengthen its commitment to water conservation by adopting a group-wide challenge aimed at conserving and judiciously using one of the scarcest resource of the future.

The water consumption of all hotels in the Taj portfolio will be recorded and reviewed on a regular basis – with a focus on increasing rain water harvesting, water recycling and reuse and ensuring zero water discharge into municipal sewers.

On Friday, nine of the Taj hotels were accredited with EarthCheck, Gold the global environmental benchmarking and certification organization – with a focus on tourism and hotel industry, at an event held at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai.

The hotels were awarded in the presence of  Mukund Rajan – Brand Custodian and Chief Ethics Officer of Tata Sons, Shankar Venkateswaran – Chief of Tata Sustainability Group, Raymond Bickson – MD & CEO, Taj Group,  Vasant Ayyappan – Director of Corporate Sustainability, Taj Group and Stewart Moore, CEO of EC3 Global and EarthCheck.

Raymond Bickson, MD & CEO, The Taj Group of Hotels said, “The Taj Group reiterates its focus on energy and water conservation and societal development. The milestones achieved today reaffirm and demonstrate our commitment towards building sustainable livelihoods. Our goals are also in-line with the Tata ethos of keeping communities at the heart of doing business.”

Within five years, the nine certified Taj hotels have already saved enough resources to electrify 53,490 homes by collectively conserving 174,766,344MJ of energy, fill nearly 186 shipping containers by reducing 7,172,259.2 litres of waste and reduce CO2 emissions of approximately 6,675 cars off the road.

“The Taj’s achievements can be attributed to our rich tradition and our people who are highly passionate about sustainability. Our Taj EARTH sustainability program gives us immense satisfaction as our achievements significantly contribute to energy and water conservation, waste reduction and several CSR initiatives like skill development, responsible procurements and indigenous art & culture development initiatives.” added Vasant Ayyappan - Director of Corporate Sustainability, Taj Group.

“What is commendable is that the Taj Group has maintained this benchmarking for five years without wavering while some other hotel groups have dipped in and out of the sustainability space. This length of time and the growing number of Taj hotels now engaged with EarthCheck shows absolute commitment to quality external benchmarking,” said Stewart Moore, CEO of EarthCheck and EC3 Global.

The nine properties that have been Gold certified include, Taj Exotica Resort & Spa in the Maldives; Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Goa; Vivanta by Taj – Ambassador, New Delhi; Rambagh Palace in Jaipur; Taj West End Hotel, Bangalore; Taj Lands End Hotel in Mumbai, Vivanta by Taj – M G Road, Bangalore; Vivanta by Taj – President, Mumbai and Blue Sydney A Taj Hotel located in Sydney’s Woolloomoolloo Wharf.