Marriott to ditch single-use plastic toiletry bottles in 1,000 properties

Marriott International announced today that it will be expanding its initiative to replace tiny, single-use toiletry bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and bath gel in guestroom showers with larger, pump-topped bottles. The company first began replacing single-use toiletry bottles in their guest bathrooms in January last year as part of their global initiative to reduce their hotels’ environmental impact. 

To date, Marriott International has replaced single-use toiletry bottles with pump-topped bottles in about 1,000 properties in North America (that’s more than 20 percent of the company’s more than 7,000 properties) and expects most of its other hotels to make the switch by December 2020. 

Should the company hit this target, it will be able to prevent about 500 million tiny bottles from ending up in landfills. That’s 1.7 million pounds of plastic—a 30 percent reduction from current amenity plastic usage.

The company is also already working on ways to reduce single-use items elsewhere in the guestroom. 

Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International says that this plastic reduction program is a “huge priority” for Marriott. The recently announced program expansion will see five of the company’s brands making the switch to pump-topped bottles: Courtyard by Marriott, SpringHill Suites, Residence Inn, Fairfield by Marriott and TownePlace Suites

Four of Marriott International’s brands, namely, Aloft Hotels, Element by Westin, Four Points and Moxy Hotels have already implemented the pump-dispenser toiletry concept last year while a fifth–AC by Marriott–is set to make the switch.

A large pump-topped bottle contains the same amount of product as about 10 to 12 tiny, single-use bottles. Unlike tiny bottles which are not recyclable and never truly decompose in landfills, these pump-topped bottle dispensers are recyclable along with other basic containers such as plastic soda bottles.

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