Our ESG initiatives

In connection with our recent renovations and construction projects, we have focused on creating durable, functional and welcoming surroundings for both guests and employees.

Our choice of materials and solutions has been guided by factors such as quality, service life, functionality, acoustics and the working environment. On the following pages, you can read more about some of the specific choices we have made when designing and furnishing the hotel.

One example is the 13 glass walls with integrated acoustic regulation installed in our reception and lounge. The glass walls use Acourise® technology, developed by Tonax based on the company’s experience in hearing technology and acoustic solutions.

The glass walls are designed to absorb and diffuse sound, whereas conventional glass walls typically reflect it. The solution therefore contributes to improved acoustic conditions in an open area used by many guests and employees every day.

According to Tonax, Acourise® is the world’s first acoustically regulating glass wall. For us, the solution has made it possible to combine an open, light-filled design with functional acoustic regulation and improved conditions for conversations and work.

Our food concept is built around three principles: food with purpose, nature’s pantry and local suppliers.

We prioritise ingredients from local and Danish producers and work with farmers and suppliers on Funen and in the surrounding area. This allows us to know where many of our ingredients come from and to build close relationships with the people who grow and produce them.

Our menus change with the seasons and reflect the ingredients available at different times of the year. This creates variation and allows the flavour, quality and individual character of each ingredient to take centre stage.

We have been awarded the Bronze Organic Cuisine Label, which means that organic products account for 30–60% of our total food and beverage purchases.

We also work to reduce food waste through careful planning, ongoing stock management and the use of ingredients across different dishes. Our aim is to make the best possible use of the ingredients we purchase without compromising on flavour, quality or food safety.

We have been awarded the REFOOD label and work systematically to prevent food waste and make the best possible use of the ingredients we purchase.

The work begins with planning. We receive deliveries several times a week and continuously manage our stock, purchasing and production levels. Surplus untouched ingredients and prepared food may be used in other dishes whenever possible and permitted under food safety requirements. For example, rye bread can be turned into the traditional Danish dish øllebrød and later used in our muesli rolls.

Organic kitchen waste that cannot be used is sorted and sent to a biogas facility, where it is used in the production of biogas, among other purposes.

Our menus also always include dishes in which vegetables and pulses play a central role. This provides our guests with a range of choices and enables us to use different types of ingredients across the kitchen’s various servings.

In 2025, we introduced a new lunch concept with the aim of reducing food waste from the traditional buffet while creating more interaction between our chefs and guests.

Instead of placing every dish on a buffet, our chefs plate a selection of dishes in the restaurant. Guests can choose from at least three dishes, one of which is always vegetarian. The food is plated in the centre of the restaurant, allowing guests to meet the chefs, learn more about the food and select the dishes they would like. Salads, cheeses and desserts are still served on smaller buffet tables.

This serving format allows us to adjust the amount of food prepared and served according to the number of guests and demand in the restaurant.

Charging your vehicle should be easy when you visit Nyborg Strand. We therefore provide 56 charging points operated by E.ON, Norlys and Clever, in addition to 600 other parking spaces.

The charging points are located by the hotel, allowing you to charge your car while attending a meeting, enjoying a stay or visiting one of our restaurants.

Charging facilities for electric bicycles and scooters are also available in a separate, locked bicycle shed. This allows more of our guests to charge their vehicles during their visit.

Elis supplies and launders our bed linen, towels and workwear. Laundering takes place at a Nordic Swan Ecolabel-certified laundry, where the textile service must meet the certification’s requirements relating to areas such as energy, water and chemicals.

According to Elis, our bed linen contains 50% recycled polyester, while our towels contain 35%. The textiles are also certified according to the EU Ecolabel, OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 and OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN.

The certifications document different properties. The EU Ecolabel sets requirements relating to a product’s environmental impact throughout its life cycle. OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 means that the textiles have been tested for a range of harmful substances, while OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN provides traceability and sets requirements for the production facilities where the textiles are manufactured.

We have also decided that bed linen and towels with minor cosmetic imperfections – such as a small mark that does not disappear during laundering – may remain in use when the textile is otherwise clean and functional. This helps us avoid discarding textiles solely because of their appearance and allows us to use them for longer.

In collaboration with Microgreens, we give our used coffee grounds a new purpose.

The coffee grounds are collected in boxes and picked up by Microgreens once a week. They then form part of the substrate used to grow oyster mushrooms.

The finished mushrooms are delivered back to our kitchen, where our chefs use them in a variety of dishes. In this way, a residual product from our daily operations returns to our menus as an ingredient.

Since the beginning of 2023, we have worked with Tork PaperCircle® to collect and recycle used paper hand towels from the hotel’s toilets and communal areas.

The paper hand towels are placed in separate bins and kept apart from the hotel’s other waste. They are then collected by our waste management partner and transported to one of Essity’s paper mills. Here, the fibres are processed and used to manufacture new paper products instead of being sent for incineration.

The scheme depends on correct sorting throughout the process. Both guests and employees therefore play an important role: guests sort the towels at the bin, while our cleaning staff ensure that they remain separated during collection and storage.

In 2025, we sent 2.5 tonnes of used paper hand towels for recycling through the scheme.

This figure was recorded by our waste management partner.

We have replaced approximately 500 lamps in areas including the main walkway, several meeting rooms, storage and office areas and, so far, two guest-room corridors.

The lighting is normally set at 5% of full output. When a sensor detects movement, the light level increases to 70%. It returns to 5% 120 seconds after movement was last detected.

For the areas covered by the project, our technical calculations indicate electricity savings of at least 75% compared with the previous lighting. The new light sources also have an estimated service life approximately seven times longer than the ones they replaced. Over their total service life, this corresponds to around 3,500 light sources that will not need to be purchased, replaced and disposed of.

Green Key is an international certification programme for hotels, conference centres and other tourism establishments.

To obtain and retain the certification, we must document our compliance with a set of mandatory criteria. These include:

• Management and organisation of work relating to environmental matters and resource consumption

• Monitoring and management of energy and water consumption

• Waste sorting and measures to prevent unnecessary waste

• Requirements relating to cleaning, laundering and the use of chemicals

• Procurement and the selection of food and beverages

• Employee involvement and training

• Information for guests about the hotel’s initiatives

The certification process includes both written documentation and an on-site audit. During the audit, our documentation is reviewed and an auditor inspects the hotel to assess whether we comply with the applicable criteria.

Green Key is therefore more than a label displayed on our website. It provides a framework with specific requirements for our operations and requires us to document our work on an ongoing basis.

For us, social responsibility means using our opportunities, resources and relationships to provide practical support to people in the communities around us.

We therefore engage in social initiatives and work with organisations that have the relevant expertise and close contact with the people the initiatives are intended to support. One of our most important partnerships is with Kirkens Korshær, a Danish social welfare organisation.

Together, we work on initiatives that provide community, care and new experiences for people in vulnerable circumstances. Our contributions include financial support, practical donations, free coffee for visitors to Kirkens Korshær’s social cafés and drop-in centres across Funen, and holiday stays for families with children in vulnerable circumstances.

The partnership allows us to contribute the facilities, skills and resources available to us, while Kirkens Korshær helps ensure that the support reaches the people for whom it is intended.

Since 2023, we have worked with Kirkens Korshær, a Danish social welfare organisation, to provide free summer holidays at Nyborg Strand for vulnerable families. 

Each summer, we host two summer camps for a total of approximately 70 families. Children and adults spend four days with accommodation, meals, activities and excursions included. The camps give families an opportunity to step away from everyday concerns for a few days and enjoy new experiences together.

Kirkens Korshær selects the participating families through its family support services, while our employees and partners help organise and deliver the activities at Nyborg Strand.

Kirkens Korshær’s social cafés and drop-in centres on Funen provide company, advice and a safe place for people in vulnerable circumstances. Visitors are welcomed as they are and can receive a meal and become part of a community.

As part of our partnership with Kirkens Korshær, Nyborg Strand provides free coffee for visitors to its social cafés across Funen. Coffee is part of the daily routine and the conversations and sense of community that develop around the tables.

We also donate items from the hotel that the centres can use. These may include bed linen, towels or other equipment that remains clean, functional and suitable for use.

All donations are agreed with Kirkens Korshær in advance to ensure that we contribute items for which there is a specific need and practical use.

As a Gold Sponsor, we support Team Rynkeby’s work to raise funds and awareness for children affected by critical illnesses and their families.

Team Rynkeby’s donations go to national beneficiary organisations that support children and families and fund research into childhood cancer and other critical childhood illnesses.

In addition to this partnership, we have supported the Danish Christmas Seal Homes for several years, as well as a range of charitable events and local initiatives.

Requirements relating to documentation and ESG data are becoming increasingly important in business partnerships. For small suppliers and business partners, it can be difficult to know where to begin and what information their customers expect.

We therefore offer a free ESG programme that provides participants with knowledge and practical tools for working with areas such as data, objectives, action plans and reporting.

The programme was developed in collaboration with ESG consultant Tina Villadsen and consists of three training sessions. Its purpose is to make ESG easier to understand and help small businesses get started in a way that suits their day-to-day operations and commercial needs.

Restaurant Stranden is our apprentice restaurant and an important part of our work to educate and develop the hospitality industry’s future professionals.

Here, our chef and waiter apprentices are given the opportunity to take responsibility and influence the menus, hospitality and overall restaurant experience – always with support and guidance from experienced colleagues. This gives them practical experience with the many different tasks involved in running a restaurant.

We aim to provide an environment in which our apprentices can develop their craft, test their ideas and prepare for their future careers in the industry.

We have also chosen not to serve beef at Restaurant Stranden. This is a specific measure intended to limit the use of an ingredient that is generally associated with comparatively high greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, our apprentices work with ingredients including vegetables, fish, poultry, game and pork when developing the restaurant’s menus.

We want to be a workplace with room for people with different circumstances and different routes into employment. We therefore work with the local job centre and offer supported employment, internships and work assessment placements. We have also welcomed colleagues with refugee backgrounds from Ukraine.

Through our collaboration with STU, Denmark’s specially adapted youth education programme, we provide work placements and learning opportunities for young people with additional needs. Each placement is adapted to the individual and provides experience of both the workplace community and the tasks involved in operating a hotel.

Employee well-being, job satisfaction and strong working relationships are important parts of our workplace culture. Among other initiatives, we work with social capital and train employees and managers in how trust, fairness and cooperation can be strengthened in everyday working life.

We also offer a range of employee benefits intended to provide security and flexibility through different stages of working life. These include health insurance, dental insurance and up to four paid child sick days.