Quest refurbished its Newcastle city apartments in July 2018, to create modern and stylised spaces for guests that look and feel like a home away from home. As part of its commitment to environmental sustainability, Quest implemented the Plastic Police® program to keep all soft plastics generated during the refurbishment out of landfill. During the refurbishment, Quest collected 316kg of soft plastics, including linen packaging, bubble wrap from new furniture, and pallet wrap. More than 70 large bags of soft plastics were collected, which is the equivalent of over 77,500 pieces of plastic.
Quest is investigating the option to offset the soft plastic collected by procuring a bench seat made from soft plastics for hotel guests to enjoy. In addition to soft plastics, Quest worked closely with Plastic Police’s parent company Cross Connections Consulting, a sustainability and waste management consultancy firm based in Newcastle, to find local reuse and recycling opportunities for other waste streams produced during the refurbishment works. This included recycling cardboard, polystyrene and shower screens replaced during the refurbishment. By choosing to keep materials in the circular economy and out of landfill Quest has demonstrated its commitment to sustainable development in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and provided environmental and social outcomes for the company.
The project is an impressive example of a circular economy initiative where sustainability is at the heart of business practices. To read more about how Quest responsibly managed its waste, and how it rehomed all its used furniture, TVs and artwork view the full case study.
Outcomes
✓ Waste reduction
✓ Aligned the project with a number of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
✓ Participating in circular economy in the Hunter
✓ Positive media coverage
✓ Corporate social responsibility initiative
✓ Improving resource recovery