Those Tiny Hotel Toiletry Bottles Are on Their Way Out - The New York Times - 1 views
www.nytimes.com/...plastic-bottles-hotels.html
hotel sustainability shampoobottles ban roomamenity plasticban green
shared by kakaboshi on 03 Sep 19
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In what might become the first such state law of its kind, a bill, A.B. 1162, is making its way through the California Legislature that aims to scrap the tiny single-use plastic bottles at hotels and other hospitality establishments. It was passed in the Assembly last week, and has moved to the Senate for committee examination.
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“The goal is really to start to phase out single-use plastics in our state in general,”
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“This is really low-hanging fruit because the industry is already moving in that direction.”
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The city council of Orlando, Fla., on Monday approved a partial ban on straws and bags, and last month, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, banned plastic bags starting from next year.
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In March, lawmakers in New York agreed on a statewide ban on most types of single-use plastic bags from retail sales, making it the second state to do so after California, which has been at the national forefront of legislative action to ban plastics clogging shorelines.
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In 2016, the world generated 242 million tons of plastic waste, according to the World Bank. North America, which it defines as Bermuda, Canada and the United States, is the third largest producer of plastic waste, totaling more than 35 million tons.
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The California bill says that from the start of 2023, lodging establishments with more than 50 rooms would be prohibited from providing a small plastic bottle containing a personal care product in a bathroom or sleeping room. Establishments with 50 rooms or fewer would have until Jan. 1, 2024.
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The California Hotel & Lodging Association had pushed for an extension of the deadline to make it easier for hotels to comply.
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He estimated it could cost about $70 for each of the 500,000 hotel rooms in California to be transformed to accommodate multi-use dispensers.
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Generally, hotels and hospitality organizations assume guests will nick toiletries. But if they don’t disappear from rooms, bottles left behind are often repurposed.
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Some donate extras to homeless shelters or other organizations helping people in need.
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“In one month alone, this can amount to over 380 pounds of toiletries diverted from the landfill and sent to those in need,” the hotel says.
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InterContinental Hotels Group said last year that it would remove plastic straws from more than 5,400 hotels in nearly 100 countries by the end of 2019 and introduce bulk bathroom amenities at some of its brands.
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Some hotels work with Clean the World, an organization in Orlando, Fla., that recycles soaps and leftover plastic bottles collected through its partnerships with 8,000 establishments.
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Like grocery bags and straws, the miniature bottles of toiletries and cosmetics that many guests swipe from hotels are in the sights of legislators and hotel establishments who are trying to reduce the environmental impact of plastic waste.
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This is a smart move, both from a environmental and a cost cutting perspective as refillable containers will likely reduce costs over the long run. Marriott has been looking at replacing this process for years (Marriott Banning Little Shampoo Bottles By 2020 Associated Press - https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/marriott-banning-little-shampoo-bottles-2020-n1047116) However, even Marriott admits that it doesn't have the process right yet. There will be a significant impact to smaller operators whom 1) Will be challenged with an additional increase in cost for new dispensary options 2) Have less access to big brand economy of scale purchasing which specialized dispensary products will require. Though this is as a policy almost a foregone conclusion, there seems little doubt that extensive thought has to be put into the impact on operators as a whole, and the customer made cognizant of the fact that costs will rise due to this change.
