The ultimate guilt-free luxury stay: Inside Conca Park, Italy’s first truly sustainable hotel where single-dose shampoos are banned and leftover food is turned to compost

• Conca Park is a 4-star property in Sorrento – a spot beloved by the Kardashians 
• The hotel is committed to being a zero-waste hotel as well as a plastic-free hotel
• It’s the first truly environmentally friendly property in Italy
• READ MORE: The annual salary each nationality needs to be content 

It’s the ultimate guilt-free luxury hotel.

Welcome to Conca Park, a four-star property in picturesque Sorrento – a spot beloved by the Kardashians – that has impeccable eco-credentials.

In fact, with climate change an increasingly hot topic, this zero-waste hotel – the first truly environmentally friendly property in Italy – is blazing a trail for all future hotels.

The hotel is committed to being a zero-waste hotel as well as a plastic-free hotel.

Its motto is: ‘Even if you can’t change the world, you can make a difference.’

Conca Park, a four-star property in picturesque Sorrento – a spot beloved by the Kardashians – that has impeccable eco-credentials

Conca Park is the first truly environmentally friendly property in Italy

Conca Park is committed to being a zero-waste hotel as well as a plastic-free hotel

Since 2014, Conca Park, close to the Amalfi Coast and situated a two-minute walk away from the main street in Sorrento, Via Degli Aranci, has reduced waste by 40 per cent and achieved a 95 per cent recycling rate, with plans to reach a rate of 100 per cent soon.

Raw leftover food becomes compost for the garden and pool filters are made from ground-down empty glass bottles.

The hotel only offers glass bottles and containers to guests. And on every floor, there is a water fountain so that guests can re-fill their bottles at any time.

Mariella Russo, the owner of Conca Park, said: ‘Firstly, any kind of single-dose item was banned – like sugar, butter, marmalade, soap and shampoo. Then, we adopted recyclable and refillable dispensers.

‘This might not sound like something so impressive, but just try to imagine 80,000 – as that’s normally the number of guests staying at Conca Park over eight months – sugar packets or single-dose shampoo and shower gels. Tons and tons of useless waste.

‘We collect clothes, shoes, sunscreen, shower gel and shampoo left by guests and we give them to local charity associations.’

Since 2014, Conca Park, close to the Amalfi Coast and situated a two-minute walk away from the main street in Sorrento, Via Degli Aranci, has reduced waste by 40 per cent

Raw leftover food becomes compost for the garden and pool filters are made from ground-down empty glass bottles

Mariella Russo, the owner of Conca Park, said: ‘Any kind of single-dose item was banned – like sugar, butter, marmalade, soap and shampoo. Then, we adopted recyclable and refillable dispensers’

‘We collect clothes, shoes, sunscreen, shower gel and shampoo left by guests and we give them to local charity associations,’ said Russo

Gill Harland, 63, from Hartlepool, has stayed at Conca Park for the past 23 years. She said: ‘I couldn’t possibly think of staying anywhere else’

The hotel has irrigated green areas with collected rainwater. The lights are timed, the air-conditioning pauses when doors and windows are open and food is homegrown in the garden. Tomato plants, sweet peppers, ripe fruit, oil and seasonal vegetables are all grown in the garden. Lemons are picked to make homemade limoncello and all meat is sourced locally.

Mariella Russo said: ‘The real challenge is to reduce waste production, with staff and guests. We firmly believe in this project and we love our territory and this is just a way to respect what we have. Sorrento has given us more than what it has received during the years.

‘Being zero waste is very expensive. We bought several machines like a glass grinder, compost machine, water dispensers, bins for separate collection in any common area and any floor and we have two employees taking care of this project.’

Lemons are picked in the hotel’s garden to make homemade limoncello and all meat is sourced locally

Rooms at Conca Park cost from £245/$304

Gill Harland, 63, from Hartlepool, has stayed at Conca Park for the past 23 years. She said: ‘I couldn’t possibly think of staying anywhere else. We have always had first-class service food, entertainment and wonderful stays. We have had so many happy memories and we fell in love with Sorrento the moment we got there.

‘We really admire the fact it’s environmentally friendly. The team work extremely hard to achieve the accolade they have. The hotel has recycle stations and water fountains on each floor, it’s so well-planned. The staff are very clued up.

‘I would now always look for an environmentally friendly hotel wherever we go. We recycle at home, so why not carry it through.’

Rooms at Conca Park cost from around £245/$304. For more information visit www.concapark.com/en.

‘We firmly believe in this project,’ said owner Russo, ‘and we love our territory and this is just a way to respect what we have’

Regular guest Harland said: ‘The team work extremely hard to achieve the accolade they have. The hotel has recycle stations and water fountains on each floor, it’s so well-planned. The staff are very clued up’

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