Eco Sustainability and Circular Economy

Ycona aims to reach carbon neutrality within the next decade, by reducing down to zero the CO2 emissions via several initiatives. By already utilising a large amount of renewable energy sources from inception, we have made a considerable contribution to the environment. 

It was decided from day one of the design that Ycona in cooperation with selected suppliers who utilise recycled materials and recycled plastics, would be used to minimise our footprint on the environment. Another important aspect is that Ycona, with over an area of 60000sqm could have hosted 300 hotel rooms yet decided to respect the local nature and vegetation by limiting the construction of the resort to 40 villas thus minimising the footprint and environmental impact (ESG goals 12,13,15).

The amount of trees and plants within the resort is enormous (more than 1 million plants) and has been a large portion of the Ycona investment. The privacy of all 40 independent villas is granted by luxuriant tropical vegetation that strongly contributes to the CO2 sequestration targets.

All current and future building structures will be fitted with Ycona branded air conditioning systems fed by solar panels. Our on-grid solar panel design will provide a 65%+ coverage with renewable energy solutions like photovoltaic solar panels on all roofs and high efficiency solar thermal solutions for the water heating. Ycona’s ambition is to become the first carbon neutral eco-resort in East Africa over the next decade.

Ycona branded solar air conditioning systems and solar thermal solutions are designed by the Ycona engineers and these unique quality systems and service can be requested for design and implementation in other hotels.

All of our beach front villas and tropical lake villas partially use renewable energy solutions, a first great step towards carbon neutrality. All major resort pathways will be installed with energy efficient electric bulbs and solar lamps. Further expansions towards carbon neutrality and a fully renewable energy eco-resort are under evaluation for implementation in our future phases and dedicated areas. With such an approach, Ycona is committed to the ESG goals namely, 7 (clean energy), 9 (energy efficiency) and 11 (sustainable communities).

Ycona is strongly committed towards local content enhancement and development and has selected goals 4 (education) and 5 (gender discrimination) to starting point. This will be achieved with the Ycona ESG fund activities, which will enable us to build the “Ycona Training Centre” where the next generation of Ycona employees of the next decade will be trained and developed. They will not only excel in the Hospitality sector but will also have a full understand of the importance of sustainability.

Our first step will be to support the nearby Marumbi local schools thus ensuring the planning and construction of the training centre. Fighting diversity and gender discrimination will be achieved with a balanced workforce that promotes meritocracy and treats all genders and all diversities in the same manner.

This will ensure that Ycona meets ESG goal 8 (decent work and economic growth) supporting its chosen employees with special social support packages.

Ycona strongly supports biological healthy foods and farm-to-table initiatives. We love to offer our Guests local, biological foods. We start with our Ycona Botanic Garden where the Guests can see the vegetables and fruits which will eventually find its way on to their plates. These will all be cultivated by our local gardeners and the irrigation water will come from a system that collects humidity from the air.

Ycona is against the use of chemical pesticides thus promoting the use of biological products only. As Zanzibar is known as the spice island, all the spices in your dishes will come directly from the perfumed Ycona Spice Garden.

The poultry, ducks and eggs will come directly from our Ycona Farm, that our Guests will have the possibility to visit. This, along with the promotion of healthy menus and conscious responsible eating by maximising the use of seasonal fruits and veggies, will be compliant with the ESG goal 3.

We will also have “healthy corners” in some of our restaurants to allow our clients to cherry pick their preferences personally before they are cooked or prepared.

We will respect ESG goals 15 by preserving the local ecosystem to the best of our ability as well as ESG 14 by respecting one of the wonders of our planet, the ocean with all its sources and values.

Mama Africa, ideally located in the Ycona Botanic Garden, will promote farm-to-table food that will suit your palate and tantalize your taste buds.

The access to sweet water in Tanzania is a critical issue and Ycona is committed to preserve and minimize water consumption. Ycona has developed specific practices and tools to meet the ESG goals 6 (clean water) and ESG 14 (sea preservation).

Sensibilization programs of the clients and the employees towards the respect and reduced use of this precious source is of crucial importance. Reducing water consumption during the showers, limiting the number of towels and bedsheet per day to reduce the energy and water used in the laundry, water re-cycling processes implementation, rain-water accumulation and utilization for gardening and the implementation of an innovative water treatment plant are the keys.

Within Ycona’s circular economy activities, next to our botanic garden, there is the installation of a water treatment system from The Netherlands that enables us to offer to our beloved client’s local water adequately treated according to the highest standard in glass bottles, in order to minimize plastic waste. This will complete the concept of the farm-to-table Mama Africa restaurant ideally located into the Ycona Botanic Garden.

In Ycona, circular economy practices are one of the founding pillars of the organization. Such initiatives are strictly linked to waste management practices.

In the Ycona ESG fund project specific initiatives of waste reutilization will be adopted. The waste food will be used in composter to create high efficiency biologic fertilizers for our gardens.

We developed a special technique to valorise the seaweed coming from the beach during a certain period of the year and transforming it into a very nutrient organic compost for our luxuriant vegetation.

Sensibilization on the use of recycled material as priority, and the harmful impact of plastic for the ocean and more in general for our planet will be targets with specific programs to make sure the local community understand the impact and value of it in the long run. We will help to develop a new culture of the 3R’s, Reuse, Reduce and Recycle within our employees and our surrounding communities.