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The Zafiro Bahía team collects more than 300 kilos of plastic inflatables to recycle and convert into items such as aprons or bags.
Have you ever thought about where the inflatable bed you had so much fun with on the beach during your holiday went? The team at Zafiro Hotels wants to make sure that these things that help create so many good memories don’t end up as useless waste, abandoned on beaches and in areas around destinations.
We believe that tourism can and should have a positive impact on the natural environment. That’s why we are proud that our Zafiro Goes Greener sustainability programme includes the Renetas project, a pioneering circular economy project in Playa de Muro to reduce the presence of single-use plastic and boost recycling.
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Our Zafiro Bay hotel has been an active participant in this innovative project, led by the Playa de Muro Hotel Association and launched in 2023. The Renetas project is much more than just a recycling campaign. Its objective is to retrieve and recycle inflatable items that are left on the beaches and in hotels in Playa de Muro and then transform them into useful and sustainable products.
The project aims to reduce the environmental impact of plastic pollution and also create job opportunities for the most vulnerable members of society. This is supported by the Es Garrovers Foundation in Inca, a non-profit organisation that helps people with mental health disorders with social integration and employment opportunities.
The foundation gives all the retrieved inflatables a "second life" by converting them into products such as bags, bibs or aprons to reduce the amount of waste to zero.
The Zafiro Bahía commitment to Playa de Muro
Throughout the holiday season, the Zafiro Bahía team - from lifeguards to cleaning staff, from the entertainment team to the waiters - helps collect inflatables left in the hotel by guests returning home.
These items are then carefully placed in a 1,100-litre container provided free of charge by the Playa de Muro Hotel Association and managed with the support of the Town Council. Every so often, the waste is collected and taken to the Es Garrovers Foundation recycling centre, where the transformation into new products takes place.
The impact of this partnership is both tangible and measurable. In our first year in 2023, we managed to collect a total of 277 kg of inflatables. Thanks to the constant efforts and increasing awareness of the team, in 2024 we have collected 322 kg, an increase that reflects our growing commitment to sustainability and the circular economy.
In the entire Playa de Muro region, the 2023 campaign managed to collect a total of 5.4 tons of plastics, the result of a huge collective effort to reduce waste in the area. In this new stage of the project we have set ourselves an ambitious target to reduce the amount of discarded inflatables by 60 to 80% in local hotels. This effort has had visible results at the Zafiro Bahía.
Looking towards the future
In addition to taking part in cleaning and recycling activities, the Zafiro Bahía actively encourages training in sustainability for team members to ensure everyone understands the importance of the project. With help from the Es Garrovers Foundation, sustainability training sessions have been held for our team members to welcome Renetas Project experts to the hotel to learn more about best practices in waste management and recycling.
These training sessions enhance our ability to collect more material every year and also reinforce the personal commitment to sustainability of each and every one of us who work at Zafiro Hotels. We firmly believe that taking care of our environment and supporting its preservation is an essential factor in continuing to offer guests quality experiences on our islands.
Activities such as this allow us to continue to make progress with our commitment to make tourism a vehicle for positive change, in harmony with nature and to the benefit of the entire community.
Thanks to all of our team members who make everything possible with the work they do every day.
