Marriott International has announced plans to eliminate disposable plastic straws and stirrers at all 30 of its global brands by 2019.
“Once fully implemented in one year, the company could eliminate the use of more than 1 billion plastic straws per year and about a quarter billion stirrers,” Marriott estimated in a press release, noting that, “A single plastic straw – which might be used for about 15 minutes – will never fully decompose.”
“Removing plastic straws is one of the simplest ways our guests can contribute to plastic reduction when staying with us – something they are increasingly concerned about and are already doing in their own homes,” said Marriott President and CEO Arne Sorenson.
“We are committed to operating responsibly and – with over one million guests staying with us every night – we think this is a powerful step forward to reducing our reliance on plastics.”
Some Marriott properties have either eliminated plastic straws already or offer non-plastic straws upon request. For example, the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London was among 60 Marriott properties in the UK to remove plastic straws last year.
“Since then, the hotel has received positive feedback from guests and has halved the number of straws used at the property,” according to Marriott.
The JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort has eliminated 65,000 straws per month, while the Sheraton Maui Resort ans Spa last year became Hawaii’s first resort to remove plastic straws, eliminating about 30,000 plastic straws monthly.
Earlier this month American Airlines pledged to replace plastic straws and stirrers on its flights with greener alternatives.
