New Delhi (IANSlife) This World Oceans Day, Atlantis Dubai marks the one-year anniversary of its pioneering sustainability initiative, Atlantis Atlas Project – by which the resort has invested over half a million US dollars in green initiatives to create positive change across its operation over the past year.
Tim Kelly, Managing Director & Executive Vice President of Atlantis Dubai, said: “We’re incredibly proud to celebrate the results of Atlantis Atlas Project one year on, which reflects the dedication and persistence demonstrated by the entire Atlantis team. Our investment of half a million US dollars over the past year is testament to our commitment to making positive change and improvements to our operation, as well as implementing conservation and education programmes both in-resort and within the region”.
Over the last year, Atlantis Atlas Project has prioritised food waste reduction. With this in mind, the resort has invested heavily in Winnow AI technology to reduce waste across its main buffet operations. The use of this technology has resulted in the recycling of over 450,000kg of mixed materials, reducing the resort’s total waste to landfill by more than 95 percent on an annual basis.
Following the successful launch of the Project’s sustainable dining initiative in June, the resort has increased the number of locally sourced and sustainable dishes on the menus of all nine signature restaurants by more than 70percent. By June 2022, every restaurant, as well as in-room and outdoor dining, will have at least five to six dishes on adult and children’s menus, all 100 of which have been meticulously crafted from locally sourced and sustainable produce. To date, Atlantis has sold 38,751 of the environmentally friendly dishes, with the three most popular being Bread Street Kitchen’s Uns Farm Caesar Salad, WHITE Beach’s locally produced Burrata, and The Shore’s sustainably farmed Fish Tacos.
Atlantis Dubai has pledged to eliminate all single-use plastic bottles by the end of 2023 (including Atlantis, The Palm, Atlantis The Royal, and Atlantis Aquaventure). To put this promise into action, the resort has invested over $300,000 in a water purification and bottling plant on-site, which is scheduled to be completed in Q3 2022. The plant will eliminate 2.7 million plastic bottles from the resort’s operations each year, directly supporting The Crown Prince’s Dubai Can Programme, which aims to eliminate single-use plastic throughout the city in stages.
In addition to taking sustainable steps forward, the Atlantis Atlas Project’s CSR programme has thrived beyond 2022, with initiatives such as donating 1,530kg of food to the Stray Dogs Centre Umm Al Quwain and 15,690 meals to the region’s humanitarian aid organisation, Tarahum Charity Foundation. Atlantis Aquaventure was also the first waterpark in the region to become an IBCCES Certified Autism CenterTM last month.
Atlantis Dubai has also supported four universities and non-profit organisations in driving local marine conservation initiatives over the last year. This includes the UAE Dolphin Project Initiative, which is run in collaboration with Zayed University and collects critical data to aid in the study of local dolphin populations. Over the last year, the team has spent more than 270 hours conducting 60 boat surveys along the UAE coastline, covering a total distance of 5,444 kilometres. This resulted in 11,043 images being captured – and dolphins being spotted 18 times.
Over the past year, the Atlantis Atlas Project has also supported New York University Abu Dhabi in their research on the effects of climate change on coral reef ecosystems, as well as the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Shark Specialist Group in their mission to coordinate and implement global conservation efforts. United Arab Emirates University has also received funding to conduct research on critically endangered sharks and rays in local waters.
Tim Kelly, Managing Director & Executive Vice President of Atlantis Dubai, commented: “Whilst we are conscious that we still have a way to go in our mission to become the Middle East’s champion for responsible and sustainable tourism, we are incredibly pleased to share the many examples of positive change we have made in just 12 months and we collectively look forward to ramping up our efforts over the coming year. At the end of 2021, we attained EarthCheck Silver Certification for the second consecutive year recognising our successful implementation of environmental standards and policies. We look forward to continually improving on these as part of our commitment to do business in ways that are good for both people and the planet”.