During our visit and laughter-filled conversations with charming staff, it became clear that there were some conditions that supported their success in overcoming challenges together. We saw in action The Datai Langkawi’s commitment to using their position to share their learning freely across the local and global landscape so it might benefit the wider community. 

So, here’s a set of guiding questions and ideas for managing waste based on the approaches shared with us:

1. Count the waste: What are you disposing of?

Under The Datai Pledge’s ‘Pure for the Future’ pillar, guests are invited to see where the hotel’s wet (food) and dry (clothes, paraffin, wood, metal, plastic, rubber, styrofoam) waste is sorted and recorded in its dedicated Sorting Centre. 

This process allows the hotel to understand more deeply how much and what types of waste they produce. It is not an expensive system, it is a bunch of well-organised bins, a large whiteboard, and a willing, dedicated and innovative team. 

The Datai Langkawi team shows how they record waste daily in the Sorting Centre.
Photo by Rebecca Chin, The Habitat Foundation. 

In addition, it is a way for The Datai Langkawi to raise awareness around new lifestyle choices guests can make while travelling (and in ‘normal’ life), as well as aligning with guests who choose this hotel for its commitments to regenerative tourism.

2. Once you know what you dispose of, figure out who and where this product is needed

The team described how they considered different ways to distil waste items into reusable materials. For example, vegetable waste is processed into compost and used around the hotel for landscaping and in the garden. I gaped at the number of kilograms a day, but Assistant Manager of Sustainability, Zakwan Zamri, smiled as he said, “Actually, this is not a lot!” 

The team described how the data gives them an appreciation of the types of materials they have and how much they can reuse, but also recognising that for such a large site, the food waste can only provide so much. For any operator, it is important to embrace the ebbs and flows of hotel activities over seasons, so by monitoring the changes, you can understand what can feasibly be reused or reduced. 

Zakwan Zamri, Assistant Manager of Sustainability, explains how waste is sorted and managed by their fantastic team in their processing rooms.
Photo by Rebecca Chin, The Habitat Foundation. 

3. What is the process to get the product to where it needs to go?

The hotel separates its food waste into three parts: 

• • First is the waste, which is 100% vegetable and plant-based, which is processed to become compost and used in the garden. 
  • The second is a mixture of vegetable and meat waste, which is donated to the chicken farmer who supplies the hotel with his produce and collects the waste during the deliveries. 
  • The third is all the byproducts of meat and fish which are no longer in a condition to be used by the hotel, this is donated to the community, who cook it to be used as good quality feed for their farm dogs. 

A short time after they began this arrangement, the farmers started to say ‘no’ to the meat waste, as it was requiring several rounds of cooking per day to process the large quantities. The Datai team realised they needed to extend a little bit of help, without affecting the farmers’ ownership of the solutions. 

The Datai team purchased one large pot for the farmers so the cooking could be completed in one round. This was a reasonable purchase for the team and also meant the farmers were still fully in charge of their part in the resource management process. The hotel is clear they don’t want to encourage imbalances and dependencies, which damage the relationships and livelihoods in the long-run.

The Datai Langkawi’s Wenzel Weinich, Director of Rooms, advocates for how The Datai Pledge means developing these kinds of thoughtful partnerships with local communities and experts. In particular, he shares how impressed he is with the team members who often go out of their way and even on their days off to forge these relationships in meaningful ways. 

4. Creating a sense of collective pride

Wherever we went to see aspects of The Datai Pledge in action across the hotel site, different staff explained their roles and the impact of their work with pride. 

I shared this with Wenzel and Dev, who promptly shared their admiration for each other in making this culture a reality. Creating a long-term plan for responsible tourism takes courage and foresight, and as Wenzel proudly gushes, it takes amazing staff who are dynamic, who use their expertise, who can tell the management what is needed openly, and who implement ideas through the rounds until good solutions are found. 

Since change is inevitable, having a resilient, adaptable, and goal-aligned team with evident pride in the part they play is a driving force for improvement. 

Sipon welcomes guests enthusiastically to The Datai’s Sorting Centre Wet Room.
Photo by Rebecca Chin, The Habitat Foundation. 

It is also noted that in order to create this kind of environment, the management supports risk-taking and learning from mistakes continuously. Weekly meetings address concerns raised by guests, and where they pertain to sustainability issues, the team can reflect and respond quickly (like the time a monitor lizard played havoc with their vegetable compost pile and they had to spend hours re-composting and dealing with the smell!). 

Operators can consider how their team culture creates conditions for trust, creativity, and innovation. Indeed, examples from global operators, big and small, have emphasised that errors and adaptations are part of any sustainability shift.

Thought is given to keeping smells away from guests by moving composting materials into purpose-built buildings
away from the main thoroughfares. Photo by Rebecca Chin, The Habitat Foundation. 

5. “Without risk, we cannot learn” 

The Datai Langkawi illustrates a collective culture of genuine commitment and investment in these endeavours, from the management level to each individual staff member. 

From selecting tea leaves from their garden served in the waiting areas to developing nature-friendly excursions for guests like kayaking (instead of noisy jet skis), all these choices have wide-reaching repercussions for the hotel’s operations, when viewed through the lens of The Datai Pledge. 

In the current industrial system, sustainability endeavours are arguably not the financial choice for a clear return on investment. The Datai Langkawi acknowledge this but state they have seen benefits as many guests deliberately choose to stay with them because of their commitment to sustaining the natural ecosystem. 

Guests can learn about the primates, make their own natural mosquito spray, or plant coral to reforest the local reef. Indeed, this regeneration of the coral reef in their bay for future generations once again demonstrates The Datai Langkawi’s level of commitment – in the short term, it’s over a million ringgit of investment, but the regeneration of the marine ecosystem is priceless.

Wenzel emphasised that the team sees its role in being willing to take these risks so as to pioneer approaches in the regional and global hotel industry. They willingly share their learning with other like-minded partners across the industry and seek meaningful partnerships. 

In the same way, other operators can consider what level of risk and investment they want to take and who are the partners they can work with to see this work actualised.

‘Exclusive’ hotels are often seen as just that – keeping community and nature out. Instead, The Datai Langkawi actively brings in locals, who are passionate about a thriving future for Langkawi’s community and natural assets. 

Pioneering hotel owners of any size can be inspired to get started with simple tracking of their own waste, figuring out who in their local community can benefit from what is disposed of, and how to realise the whole process through collaboration.