Marriott International said it will eliminate small plastic bottles of shampoo, conditioner and bath gel from its hotel rooms worldwide by December 2020.
The hotel will replace them with larger, pump-topped bottles, which will contain the same amount of product as about ten to 12 tiny, single-use bottles.
It says it has already rolled out larger bottles at about 1,000 properties in North America, and plans to prevent 500 million tiny bottles annually from ending up in landfills (1.7 million pounds of plastic).
“Our guests are looking to us to make changes that will create a meaningful difference for the environment while not sacrificing the quality service and experience they expect from our hotels,” said Arne Sorenson, president and chief executive officer of Marriott International.
The company first introduced larger-size toiletries in early 2018. Today’s announcement adds to Marriott’s earlier initiative to switch single-use shower toiletry bottles to larger bottles with pump dispensers in the following five hotel brands:
- Courtyard by Marriott
- SpringHill Suites
- Residence Inn
- Fairfield by Marriott
- TownePlace Suites.
The hotel says that about 20 percent of Marriott’s more than 7,000 properties now offer larger-pump-topped bottles in guestroom showers.
The move follows Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) announcement last month that it will switch to bulk-size bathroom amenities in guest rooms across its entire portfolio.
In June, California lawmakers approved a bill that would prohibit hotels in the state from using small, disposable plastic bottles for shampoo, conditioner, and other toiletries.
