Behind the Scenes at Marina Bay Sands
I was grateful for the opportunity to visit Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and learn first-hand about some of their sustainability initiatives, and the private sector perspective on sustainability. Our tour was led by Kevin, the director of the sustainability department at MBS.
We visited the recycling points in the basement, where the recyclables are sent to for collection by a waste disposal company. There were areas for both non-food recyclables (such as paper, plastic and metal) and food waste. MBS seems to be quite good at tracking their recycling progress, and employees weigh and record the non-food recyclables once a week. Bins are identified carefully, allowing MBS to track the sources of the recyclables and identify any weak links in their chain of waste management. These sources could be the particular shops in MBS or hotel rooms. By identifying these sources, the sustainability team is the able to find out more about the challenges faced in order to help improve their overall recycling rate.
During the tour, I was struck by how Kevin was very driven to improve recycling and MBS’sustainability performance. Besides his own passion and genuine care for sustainability, he also explained that he had KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to fulfil. This reminded me of the importance of having high (but realistic) sustainability-related KPIs that can help motivate the upper management of a company to be serious and disciplined in implementing sustainability efforts. It also shows the importance of having leaders who intrinsically care about sustainability. We also learned about the great financial benefit that sustainability brings by saving costs. Governments can use this cost-saving argument as a powerful motivator to encourage other companies to incorporate sustainability in their practices.
We ended the tour at the herb garden located just outside Rise Restaurant. It was a rather big garden with many different herbs. MBS had collaborated with Foodscape Collective, a local NGO, to create and maintain the garden. Chefs from MBS harvest the herbs daily to use in their dishes. I think it is a good initiative, as it helps chefs to be more aware and practice sustainability as part of their jobs. The garden also has a relaxing atmosphere, which gave employees the opportunity to tend to the garden and cultivate a love for nature, helping to garner their support for sustainability. This has benefits for their psychological well-being too.
Overall, the tour was a fruitful experience and I learned a lot about how the private sector can contribute to sustainability. It was enriching to understand the various sustainability initiatives and am thankful to Kevin who took time to bring us on the tour.
