Sheraton Boston Hotel Provides 600 Surplus Items to El Salvador Charity

OVERVIEW

The Sheraton Boston Hotel accumulated an inventory of over 600 pieces of guest room furniture and supplies and administrative furnishings.  The inventory was being held for potential deployment in guest and administrative areas, and was stored in several rooms in the hotel basement and an upper floor.

Consistent with its commitment to sustainability, when the Sheraton determined that these items were surplus, the hotel sought a better option than simply throwing them away.  The Sheraton asked its disposal and recycling contractor, Waste Management, Inc. to recommend a solution, and Waste Management in turn recommended IRN.

Apart from environmental and social benefits, a significant advantage of this project from Sheraton’s perspective was the efficient use of their limited loading facilities.  The Sheraton and IRN calculated that the two trailers filled by IRN displaced seven or eight rolloff containers that would have been required to dispose of the surplus inventory.  Compared to the multiple trips, noise, and disturbance associated with dropping and picking up this number of rolloff containers, the project as implemented by IRN was clean, orderly, and much more efficient.

Key Sheraton staff included Jeff Hanulec, Director of Engineering & Sustainability, Brian Hoffman, Director of Six Sigma, and Michelle Dion, Director of Housekeeping.   Liaison with Waste Management, Inc. came through Michelle Lee Guiney of WMI’s Total Recycling Program.

I am very happy with this project.  It was the right thing to do, it matches Sheraton’s commitment to a sustainable community, and it was actually easier, less expensive, and more efficient than throwing the surplus away.  We are proud of the fact that we can assist families in less fortunate countries.   Jeff Hanulec, Director of Engineering & Sustainability, Sheraton Boston Hotel

SETTING

The Sheraton Boston is located in a congested urban setting Boston’s Back Bay.  Service access to the hotel is through an underground parking garage, where two loading dock slots are shared by all inbound and outbound traffic.  The Sheraton’s surplus was stored in several rooms in the basement and on an upper floor, accessed by freight elevator

COMPOSITION

Sheraton Composition Graph

IMPLEMENTATION

The project was set up to fill two shipping containers on a single day.  Trailers were scheduled to arrive at 10:00 AM and 12:00 Noon.  Sheraton housekeeping staff started early in the morning to move and stage the surplus inventory in the loading area.  When the trailers arrived a combined crew of IRN-contracted movers and Sheraton staff continued to remove the furnishings and pack the trailers.  The project was completed early in the afternoon

DESTINATION

IRN’s charitable partner Food For The Poor matched the Sheraton’s inventory with the Fundacion Nuevos Horizontes (FNH) in San Salvador, El Salvador.  The Sheraton’s furnishings are being distributed among several FNH community development projects in El Salvador.

It took less than four hours to fill two shipping containers with Sheraton Boston surplus. Here NEOC movers are packing tables and seating.
It took less than four hours to fill two shipping containers with Sheraton Boston surplus. Here NEOC movers are packing tables and seating.
Chairs from the Sheraton Boston Hotel loaded for shipment to El Salvador
Chairs from the Sheraton Boston Hotel loaded for shipment to El Salvador
NEOC Movers Load Sheraton Linens for Shipment to El Salvador
NEOC Movers Load Sheraton Linens for Shipment to El Salvador
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