Exceeding its guests’ standards, Sun City Resort will be internationally recognised with an ISO 14001 certification for the responsible management of its water and energy resources.
The jewel of Sun International’s crown, Sun City Resort, has been awarded an ISO 14001 certification. This is “for the responsible manner in which it interacts with its environment and the responsible way in which it uses scarce resources”, according to a statement released this week.
The certification is part of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) set of frameworks used to benchmark goods, services and activity. In this instance, the ISO 14001 recognises the means and measures that have been put in place to manage the immediate to long-term environmental impacts of an organisation’s products, services, and processes.
Global standards
The awarding of Sun City’s ISO certification puts the resort on the sustainability map together with international hotels in Germany, Switzerland, Greece and Spain.
Safety, health and environmental manager for Sun International, Lwazi Mswelanto, notes that the global hospitality industry is moving towards obtaining international recognition and certifications. With Sun City being an international attraction, it is key that guests can see that the resort conforms to international standards as a sustainable business operation.
In terms of water management, Sun City has implemented a number of initiatives, which has also resulted in savings. “We implemented a water balance project aimed at accounting for all water uses, which includes metering from primary fresh water sources to the end user, and accounting for all water treated after use,” says Lwazi.
The project focuses on water intensive equipment and aspects of Sun City’s operation. In addition, the resort also has its own wastewater treatment plant that recycles wastewater into grey water. This is then used for irrigating the golf courses, which Lwazi says “is essential for water conservation.”
The projects started in 2020 and Phase One has been completed, with Phase Two set to start in September 2021.
“Changing public perception is at the core of our operations as we aim to have a positive reputation with surrounding communities.”
Management of energy resources
Sun City recently completed a solar project that is currently powering its staff village. This has saved on the cost of electricity and it also ensures better power supply security.
The project entailed removing 700 old geyser elements and replacing these with 216 solar units, which is said to be saving at least 90 000kWh per month, and more than 1MWh each year.
Together with the installation of more than 15 000 LED downlighters to replace the halogen downlighters, this has resulted in an energy saving of at least 400kW for every hour that the lights burn, according to Lwazi, who adds that street signage and building lights have also been converted to LED.
“The entire purpose of sustainable environmental management is to reduce waste, consumption of resources, and limit the damaging effects that organisations have on the environment. Changing public perception is at the core of our operations as we aim to have a positive reputation with surrounding communities,” concludes Lawzi.
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