Leading Hotel Group to Use d2

RNS Number : 2960L

Symphony Environmental Tech. PLC

05 May 2010

 



 5 May 2010

SYMPHONY ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES PLC ("SYMPHONY")

LEADING HOTEL GROUP TO USE SYMPHONY'S d₂W® ECO-FRIENDLY PLASTIC TECHNOLOGY

The hotel group NH Hoteles Group has announced that it is to use d₂w® Controlled-life Plastic technology, developed by Symphony in all of its shampoo bottles, laundry bags, carrier bags, bin liners and branded packaging throughout its 393 hotels.  This is the first environmental agreement between a major hotel group and a degradable plastics company.

The initiative will be launched today at the NH Harrington Hall Hotel in South Kensington, London, by Gabriele Burgio, Chairman and CEO of Spanish-based NH Hoteles and Michael Laurier, CEO of Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc. It is designed to promote eco-friendly, sustainable plastic technology throughout the hotel and catering industry. Certificates of Environmental Excellence will be presented to Gabriele Burgio to mark this achievement.

NH Hoteles is the third largest business hotel chain in Europe with three luxury hotels in London. It will co-operate with Symphony to show companies in the catering and hotel sectors the environmental benefits of Controlled-life Plastic technology, instead of the normal plastic or other forms of degradable plastic currently used. The NH Hoteles Group currently has 399 hotels in 24 countries across Europe, America and Africa providing over 60,000 rooms, with another 45 hotels under construction.

Symphony has developed a special additive - d₂w® - which, when added to most ordinary plastics at manufacture, alters their behaviour and gives them all the properties of oxo-biodegradable plastic.

Plastics made with this d₂w® additive become intelligent plastic, as they are programmed to degrade and then biodegrade over a specific time period.  They are programmed with a service-life during manufacture: from as little as a few months up to five years. They will then degrade and biodegrade automatically, without any human intervention, either on land or water. When it degrades and biodegrades, it does so completely, without leaving any fragments or harmful residues. It can also be reused and recycled like ordinary plastics and without contaminating the recycling stream, unlike other types of less environmentally favourable crop based plastics.

The hotel and catering sectors rely on many different types of plastic products, and both NH Hoteles and Symphony regard plastic with a shorter controlled and more predictable lifespan as an important contribution towards making plastic sustainable and to help reduce the potential environmental impact of plastic litter.

NH Hoteles Group, which aims to be one of the world's greenest hotel groups, is keen to show that plastic can be used in an environmentally responsible way.  The group (which already allows guests to measure the carbon footprint they generate during their stay) will be converting to Symphony's d₂w® Controlled-life Plastic Technology in all its hotels and offices.

NH Hoteles Group is the first major hotel group to switch to oxo-biodegradable plastic for all its plastic packaging requirements.

Michael Laurier, CEO of Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc, commented: "The NH Hoteles decision to specify d₂w® for its hotels and offices as part of its Green Initiative is a demonstration of its confidence in this form of degradable plastic technology and its ecological benefits. We congratulate NH for being a world first and leading by example"

Gabriele Burgio, Chairman and CEO of NH Hoteles Group said "as one of Europe's greenest hotel groups, NHH is already setting extremely high standards of environmental protection. We are very happy to be working with Symphony in this joint environmental initiative. We believe that the use of d₂w® in all our plastic products will contribute towards an improvement in the environment and will show our customers our continued commitment to raise our standards beyond the norm."

NOTE TO EDITORS: 

Information about Symphony:

SYMPHONY ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES PLC is a world leader in Controlled-life Plastic Technology - a system that works by a process called oxo-biodegradation.  The technology is branded d₂w^® and appears as a droplet logo on many thousands of tonnes of plastic packaging and other products. 

Symphony has a diverse and growing customer-base and has established itself successfully as an international business. Products made with d₂w® plastic technology can be found in more than 90 countries around the world and in many different product applications.  Symphony is a member of the Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Association (www.biodeg.org), the Society for the Chemical Industry (UK), and the American Standards Organisation (ASTM).  Symphony is also a member of The US Save the Plastic Bag Coalition (http://www.savetheplasticbag.com/). Symphony actively participates in the work of the British Standards Institute (BSI) and the European Standards Organisation (CEN).

Symphony has launched d₂p anti-microbial plastic technology which has applications in similar markets to d₂w®.

Symphony is also developing innovative waste-to-energy technology and cost-effective processes to convert tyres and other waste-streams into valuable products.

Symphony is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (Symbol SYM.L) and Symphony's American Depositary Receipts ("ADR") trade in the US on the OTC market under the symbol SETPY. The ADR to 1p ordinary share ratio is 1:100 and the CUSIP is 87156K104.  BNY Mellon acts as sponsored depositary for Symphony's ADR facility.

Further information on the Symphony Group can be found at www.d2w.net.

To see d₂w plastic degrading go to: http://youtube.com/watch?v=i3TGqcpWJTM

For information about Oxo-biodegradable plastic generally see www.biodeg.org

 

Information about NH Hoteles

NH Hoteles (www.nh-hotels.com) ranks third among European business hotels. NH Hoteles currently has 393 hotels with 58,848 rooms in 24 countries within Europe, America and Africa. NH Hoteles presently has 39 new projects for hotels under construction, which will provide 7,000 new rooms.

Listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange, it is also one of Europe's "greenest" hotel groups. Under the slogan: "Wake up to a better World", the company is undertaking special environmental initiatives for this year and onwards. It is aiming to reduce its CO₂ emissions, waste generation and water consumption by at least 20 per cent.  It is also starting to install free, high-speed charging points for electric cars.

NH Hoteles is a responsible company in the Tourism industry. The Chain offer hotel services which anticipate present and future needs of both our internal and external stakeholders (Employees, Clients, Shareholders, Suppliers, Environment, etc.), the communities where we operate and future generations with maximum attention to detail and efficient and sustainable solutions. 

One of its most striking innovations is the "CO₂ emissions calculator", which will be put on the hotel's corporate website, so that guests may know and compensate for the environmental impact of their stay.

NH Hoteles website address is: www.nh-hotels.com

For further information, contact: 

Symphony
Michael Laurier, CEO	Tel: [phone]
Ian Bristow, FD	Tel: [phone]
Carteret Communications	Tel:   [phone]
Max de Trense	Email: [e-mail]
Threadneedle Communications	Tel: [phone]
Graham Herring/Josh Royston

 

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