Sustainability

T: +49 (0) 8823 18-0

Creating a Sustainable Future

Since we are located in a pristine sanctuary of breathtaking beauty we have always been committed to sustainability in everything we do.

We are therefore proud to have hosted the historic G7 Summit 2015 in Schloss Elmau, which cleared the way for the Paris Climate Accord in 2015. Greenpeace had praised the summit with the message “Elmau Delivered” on full page ads published around the globe. In the last few years we have eliminated plastics, reduced waste and implemented numerous measures to reduce our carbon footprint.

In order to be able to consider sustainability in its entirety, the triple bottom line approach was developed as early as 2007. This approach describes that a sustainable balance between the three factors ecology, economy and social needs to be achieved in order to implement sustainability in the long term. Our approach is based on this methodology and is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Schloss Elmau will be 100% climate neutral in Scope 1 (heating and electricity) already by the end of 2024.

Our team is contributing to almost all 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations
with the aim of promoting sustainable development across borders.

OUR ACTIONS

Plastic Elimination

We have completely eliminated plastic from our guest rooms. All amenities are plastic-free, non-toxic, fair and organic products. Our skincare line, consisting of shampoo/conditioner and shower gel/body lotion, is 100 % organic, vegan, free of synthetic ingredients, not tested on animals, and additionally made in Germany. They are available to you in high quality porcelain pump dispensers. Our edible amenities are freshly filled in-house into beautiful cardboard boxes All packaging, from tea bags to foil, is made from biodegradable raw materials such as: Cassava, sugar cane, corn, paper & unbleached cotton. For on-the-go, we offer glass bottles or in-house sports drinking bottles made of biodegradable polymer. Behind the scenes, we are also replacing some of the disposable products in the kitchen, such as vacuum bags, with a biodegradable alternative.

Clean Energy

80% of our energy for heating is produced in our wood chip plant which uses wood waste from forests in Bavaria. By the end of 2023, we will have commissioned our second, state-of-the-art wood chip plant which will enable us be totally independend of gas. As a backup in the event of a failure of both plants, we can operate a combined heat and power plant with gas which will simultaneously generates electrical energy.

100 % of our electric power requirements are supplied with state-certified green electricity from EON and our own hydro-power plant on the premises. We are also planning to install solar power plant and heat pumps. To minimize electricity consumption, LED lighting is predominantly used throughout the hotel, and adjusted according to the time of day. A modern energy management system reduces peak loads. As a result, Schloss Elmau is already fully powered by green energy.

E-Mobility

Fewer emissions, more responsibility: We take action within our own big fleet. Electric vehicles make up 80% of our hotel’s own fleet. The remaining 20 % (traditional combustion engines) will be eliminated soon. In addition, we offer to our guests and employees charging options at roughly 60 newly installed power stations. To give our guests an opportunity to experience e-mobility and explore the beauty of the Bavarian Alps, we offer complimentary test drives in cars from our electric vehicle fleet.

Waste/Recycling

We utilize our existing waste through recycling and reuse. We recycle 100 % of our paper and glass waste. Our organic waste is fed into a regional biogas plant, which generates sustainable electricity, and the remainder is a wonderful soil- and groundwater-friendly fertilizer for our local farmers. We make enormous efforts to seek suitable solutions for plastic recycling. We are reducing our plastic waste significantly with the measures described in the section "Plastic elimination", which we are constantly expanding.

Partnerships

Because partnerships are key to achieving climate, we place great emphasis on sustainability and the suppliers we choose to work with in our procurement. For example, we partner with the VAUDE brand for some of our staff uniforms and equipment; the brand is a strong advocate of circularity and a circular economy. For our bathroom amenities, we work with the award-winning URB'N NATURE label and their "Zero Waste" product line. We also source some of our food from organic farms and from sustainable producers in our region. We are always keen to source our food as regionally as possible, to support small farms and to offer our guests top quality.

Nature Sanctuary

We protect the nature that protects us. Schloss Elmau is located in the middle of a landscape conservation area where rare wild flowers carpet unique hummock meadows formed 60 million years ago. These pastures are not fertilized and are either mown only once a year, or grazed by goats and sheep with the support of the EU environmental protection program.
For every tree we cut down in our forests, we plant at least one new one. Furthermore, during the winter months – instead of road salt, we spread natural granules that harm neither plants nor animals. Protecting the pristine nature and the climate is just as important to us as the well-being of our guests and employees. This mindset enables us to operate Schloss Elmau sustainably, and to finance investments in measures to achieve climate neutrality. Furthermore, members of our team gather once a year, after the snow has melted, to clean the surrounding area from waste discarded into nature.

Social Engagement

People. Team. Community. These three words are fundamental to life at Schloss Elmau.
At Schloss Elmau, we encourage our employees to volunteer for several associations that are important to the community. For example, some of us volunteer as local firefighters in Krün, or on the mountain rescue team in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Employees are permitted to leave their workplace immediately if there is an emergency alert.
Moreover, we pay our employees a salary far above the average in the hospitality industry, with no gender pay differences, and offer all employees a yearly budget for career development. For our apprentices we have established the “Elmau Academy,” where our young professionals not only receive traditional vocational training, but are also exposed to relevant theoretical and practical knowledge through visits to related industries and lectures by industry professionals. Beyond this, we cooperate closely with the IU and IST universities to ensure excellence in their professional development.
A new residential complex for our staff is under construction in Mittenwald that will offer our employees housing at rents significantly below market prices.

Clean Water

We take comprehensive measures to actively protect the natural environment that surrounds us. Our own mountain spring supplies guests and the entire team and operation of Schloss Elmau with fresh, mineral-rich water from the immediate surroundings. We use only biodegradable and non-toxic cleaning agents. A large proportion of these are vegan and certified by various processes, such as Cradle-to-Cradle, EU Ecolabel, NordicSwan, etc. Also, the packaging for many of them consists of PCR (Post Consumer Recycled) materials, meaning that the packaging was produced from disposed plastic waste, thus cutting down on CO2 emissions and the production of new plastic.

Ventilation

To protect the climate and to maximize comfort we use state of the art inductive and noiseless cooling systems instead of noisy and climate damaging AC and Fan Coil Systems. Our ventilation system supplies our public areas with fresh air through a cross-ventilation system, and filters of the highest technical standard are also installed here. To protect the environment, we work with heat recovery from the exhaust air. As already mentioned in the "Clean energy" section, heating is provided by wood chips.

Health & Wellbeing

Our spa offers traditional massages and cosmetic treatments, but also a more specific offer for the body and mind. Besides Yoga, Pilates & Qi Gong we offer TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) treatments, lymphatic drainage massage, personal training, and nutritional consultations. Our cosmetic team works with high-quality products from local and international companies. Our facial care range includes the South Tyrolean company Team Dr.Joseph, our signature dermatology line, which we produce in collaboration with the German company KOKO, and the Swiss luxury brand NIANCE. For body care, we use the products of Alpienne, a smaller company from the neighboring Tyrol region. In decorative cosmetics, we carry undGretel, a German company that offers animal-free organic cosmetics. All our products are personally tested by us for their ingredients, and we attach great importance to sustainable packaging as well as their transport. Of course, our products are all free of animal testing and contain no parabens, silicones, or hormones.

SapoCycle Germany e.V.

SapoCycle Deutschland e.V. is an initiative that actively works to reduce soap waste in hotels by collecting used hotel soaps, having them recycled by BadeLiebe at the Lebenshilfe workshop (a non-profit self-help organisation for people with intellectual disabilities and their families) in Nuremberg and donating them to people in need in Germany. For Schloss Elmau, this partnership is an important step, as it not only enhances our ecological efforts, but also helps to improve the living conditions of others.

By partnering with SapoCycle, Schloss Elmau actively contributes to waste prevention and the recycling of soaps. In addition, we support the humanitarian mission of SapoCycle Germany e.V. to provide hygiene products to communities in need, thereby helping to improve their health and well-being.

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