Over the past few years, we've taken numerous initiatives, including reducing waste, eliminating single-use plastic, planting wildflowers and keeping beehives in our backyards to support biodiversity, offering a "room cleaning only upon request" service to save water and avoid cleaning detergents, and completing hundreds of volunteering hours with local organizations and partners, among many other actions.
Strategic Impact Analysis
In order to ensure that these activities are meaningful enough, we also carried out a materiality analysis to identify the most important topics for MEININGER Hotels, measure our impact and do even better. By currently integrating environmental and social aspects into our business operations, we also want to inspire all of you, employees, guests or business partners to support us in our journey.
Resource management
Energy, water, waste and recycling
Emission control
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Mobility solutions
Promoting sustainable transport
Inclusive culture
Diversity, inclusion, and equality
Safety first
Prioritizing health and safety
Work-Life harmony
Supporting employee well-being
Equitable pay
Fair remuneration across all levels
Ethical sourcing
Responsible supplier relationships
Data security
Cyber Security to safeguard information
Open integrity
Enhancing transparency, dialogue and credibility
Creative innovation
Cutting-edge innovations and ideas
Environment
We want to be more sustainable and saving energy is a big part of that journey. All MEININGER hotels in Germany, Denmark and Austria are supplied with 100% green electricity from emission-free natural resources like solar, wind or hydropower. Plus, 90% of our hotels are equipped with LED lighting and motion sensors while we're working on the remaining 10%. We do regular energy audits and have installed energy-efficient appliances and key-card holders that switch off room lights.
We've managed to reduce our single-use plastic consumption by 95% in all MEININGER Hotels. We use soap dispensers in our bathrooms and dispensers for our F&B buffets in order to reduce plastic. In our German hotels, we teamed up with the Re-Cup deposit system for reusable coffee cups. Also, our partnership with Too-Good-To-Go in many of our hotels is a great way to save food. Make sure to use our recycling bins to do your part, too!
Water is a precious resource. We regularly review our water consumption and take measures to reduce it, such as installing aerators in mixer taps and shower heads which save up to 30% of water. Also, our public toilets come with dual flush systems/sensor taps. Our "room cleaning only upon request" initiative helps us save water, too.
Society
We're a truly international company with 29 different nations working in our hotels and headquarters. By offering an internal trainee program via our M-academy, we support all of our people. Since 2022, we've introduced an LGBTQIA+ board and want to keep raising awareness on important social issues. Our goal: maintain gender equality while empowering people by offering a safe space where diversity and inclusion are more than supported, they are celebrated.
Since 2019, we've been firm supporters of the Earth Hour and Earth Day movements with activities throughout the entire year involving donating lost & founds, upcycling initiatives, cleaning river banks, painting kindergarten fences and more. In Berlin, we often open our doors to the German Red Cross and invite guests, employees, and residents to donate blood. Our goal is to increase collaboration with local suppliers for a fair and transparent supply chain.
We put people first. Our responsibility is to offer a safe environment to both our employees and guests by regularly running safety inspections. We provide our employees with proper training in health and safety practices, fire safety, and mental-health training on top of legal requirements.
Corporate governance
When taking on new suppliers in areas which we consider to be higher risk, procurement function undertakes supplier due diligence to reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking. We include contractual clauses in all our higher risk supplier agreements and also in our standard template supply agreements in relation to the monitoring and tackling of slavery and human trafficking issues and compliance with legislation.
MEININGER's Code of Conduct sets out binding rules that are to be followed by every employee, consultants and business partners. The code includes provisions to never engage in any activities that promote or encourage any kind misbehaviour. We encourage open door communication and feedback about any concerns our employees may have. We have an independent third party company whistleblowing system in place where our employees can raise their concerns anonymously.
We're supporters of the Hotel Sustainability Basics, a globally recognized set of sustainability indicators for hotels by the World Travel & Tourism Council and the Sustainability Hospitality Alliance. We promote the global call for sustainable development in the hospitality industry.
FAQs | Sustainability activities
Why not all MEININGER Hotels have a green-building certificate?
Why do not all MEININGER Hotels have a sustainability label?
Does MEININGER Hotels offer vegetarian and vegan options?
Why is my room not cleaned every day?
But be assured that all rooms are, of course, thoroughly cleaned before arrival and after departure, according to the legal Health & Safety standards.
Our enviromental focus
34 of our hotels run on 100% renewable electricity (guarantee of origin) from solar, wind, or hydropower. We also run regular energy audits and install key card holders that switch off room lights when guests leave.
We aim to waste less and use our materials and resources more efficiently in our day-to-day work.
Food waste
We’re working to reduce waste from our breakfast buffets, because there’s always room to improve when it comes to reducing what ends up in landfill.
Saving leftovers
We're also saving leftovers with our Too Good To Go partnership*.
Donations
Whenever possible, we donate leftover food, old IT equipment and used bedding to local organizations. Forgotten guest items like toiletries or clothing are passed on to donation centers after a holding period.
* available in DE, AT, NL, FR
