Our sustainability policy

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility has been an important theme at Hotel Ridderkerk since the construction of the hotel. When designing Hotel Ridderkerk, three basic principles were taken into account: hospitality, sustainability, and efficiency. These three keywords are reflected in a product that offers a maximum experience for our guests while minimizing the impact on the environment and the surroundings.

Where possible, we opt for sustainable options that make our hotel, restaurant, and meeting rooms better and greener. Guest comfort is always a top priority for us. We believe that hospitality goes hand in hand with sustainable business operations.

Environmental impact management plays a significant role in our operations. Both management and all employees are responsible for this.

We consider it our duty to play an active role in the sustainable development of our field. We do this by, among other things:

• Actively contributing to the development of our field and transferring our knowledge to others who want to learn the trade.

• Actively contributing to the sustainable awareness of our guests:

  • We only change towels and bed linen in the hotel rooms upon request from the guest.

  • We inform our guests about the possibilities of using less polluting transportation, such as (electric) bicycles and public transport.

  • We promote cycling and hiking routes in the area around our hotel.

  • Guests can use charging points for electric cars at our hotel.

  • We strive to use products from local suppliers as much as possible, opting for organic and/or FairTrade products where possible.

  • Our menus include not only vegetarian but also vegan dishes.

  • We have a QR code in our hotel rooms. Guests can find all hotel information, order room service, and quickly contact the reception, for example.

  • We opt for digital external communication as much as possible (email, digital brochures or flyers, newsletters, quotes, and invoices).

• Actively contributing to the sustainable awareness of our employees:

  • We encourage our employees to adopt an active lifestyle, for example, by participating in various sporting events as a company and assisting employees who want to quit smoking.

  • We teach employees to act responsibly with the environmental impact of our hotel in mind in their daily tasks within our hotel.

  • Employees receive sustainability training before starting work within our hotel. This includes efficient use of dishwashers, water reuse, and waste separation.

• Actively contributing to the sustainable awareness of our suppliers:

  • We prefer to collaborate with responsible suppliers as much as possible.

  • We aim to purchase materials and services with an environmental and/or social certification as much as possible.

  • We encourage our suppliers to reduce their negative impact on the environment as much as possible. For example, by limiting the number of deliveries and frequency of visits, and by using recyclable packaging materials.

• Informing our business relations (guest/client, colleagues, and suppliers) about our corporate social responsibility.

• Making transparent agreements with guests, clients, and suppliers about the quality of our services and ensuring the quality we deliver.

• Determining the social impact of our services and minimizing it as much as possible in case of a negative impact.

• Safeguarding both the continuity of our business and the future prospects of our employees. We provide facilities in case we experience income loss.

• Voluntarily contributing to social causes through donations, sponsorships, and volunteering.

• Continuously working to reduce the environmental impact of our company.

Reduction of the Environmental Impact of Our Company

Reduction of CO2 Emissions

As a hotel, Hotel Ridderkerk not only meets the current requirements in terms of CO2 emissions. The emissions are even 40% lower than hotels of a similar size. The hotel emits four hundred tons less harmful substances annually. This is a saving equivalent to 2.5 million kilometers of driving. The CO2 impact of our company is regularly calculated and analyzed.

We make various efforts to reduce CO2 emissions:

• We prefer to use products from local suppliers to reduce the need for transportation.

• We have replaced our gas ovens with electric ovens and cook entirely electrically based on 100% green energy.

• We use a waste compactor to reduce the volume of waste, reducing the frequency of waste collection.

• We promote less environmentally polluting transportation. Guests can charge their electric cars at one of our charging stations.

Reduction of Our Energy Consumption

• We use geothermal energy storage. This is a technique where groundwater is pumped up from 180 meters deep, used to cool the hotel in summer, and excess heat is stored for winter heating.

• We use a cogeneration unit to generate electricity and reuse the released heat to heat water for the entire hotel.

• For the additional electricity we need, we purchase 100% green energy generated from hydropower, wind, and solar energy.

• We use heat recovery: a ventilation system that recycles the heat released when ventilating to heat the incoming air, an extremely efficient form of heat recovery.

• All hotel rooms are equipped with energy-saving equipment. Lighting, heating, and/or cooling can only be activated when the room is in use.

• We use energy-efficient LED lighting throughout the hotel.

• We have high-efficiency boilers that are only used during peak times.

• Lighting in the hotel and restaurant is dimmed in a sustainable way during the night.

• We purchase 100% green electricity and gas.

Waste Reduction

We try to minimize the amount of waste in our hotel as much as possible. We do this by, among other things:

• Using reusable or recyclable packaging or packaging that can be returned to the supplier as much as possible.

• Efficient purchasing. Over 90% of what we purchase reaches our guests. We waste relatively few food products.

• Using as little packaging material as possible on buffets, except when necessary for hygienic reasons.

• We separate as many types of waste as possible. This includes batteries, lamps, construction waste, bread, food scraps, hazardous waste, glass, cardboard, paper, plastic, general waste, and fats.

• Most of our waste is recycled.

• Biogas is produced from food scraps or organic waste returned by guests, the buffet, or the kitchen (swill).

Reducing Emissions of Harmful Substances

Many harmful substances end up in the ground, water, and air. Some of these substances come from cleaning agents. We only use cleaning agents in our hotel that meet environmental standards. We always try to use the right cleaning agents and the right dosage in our cleaning activities in the hotel. Additionally, we use microfiber cloths to clean efficiently with as few cleaning agents and water as possible.

Reducing Our Water Usage

We monitor our water usage monthly and have taken several measures to minimize usage as much as possible:

• We only change towels and bed linen in the hotel rooms upon request from the guest.

• We have sensors for the faucets in our public restrooms.

• We filter 70% of the water used in the dishwashers and reuse it in the next cycle.

• We use water-saving faucets (no more than 6 liters per minute) and showerheads (no more than 9 liters per minute).

• Toilets use no more than six liters of water per flush.

• We have separate drainage for our roof water, which goes into nearby ditches.