Hotel chain upsizes in bid to keep plastic freebies out of ocean

The fight to save the seas from plastic waste may mean the end for mini bottles of shampoo and other toiletries that hotel guests love to stuff into their luggage.

The owner of Holiday Inn and Intercontinental Hotels confirmed yesterday that its nearly 843,000 guest rooms were switching to bulk-size bathroom amenities as part of an effort to cut waste.

It will be the first global hotel brand to undertake such a move.

The transition is due to be completed in 2021, although the mini toiletries have already been removed in about a third of the chain’s estate.

The move will affect all Crowne Plaza hotels properties across the UK.

Intercontinental Hotels Group chief executive Keith Barr said: “Switching to larger-size amenities across more than 5,600 hotels around the world is a big step in the right direction and will allow us to significantly reduce our waste footprint and environmental impact as we make the change.”

IHG, which uses an average of 200 million bathroom miniatures every year, said customers expect them to act responsibly.

And there is little doubt that public awareness of the problem of plastic waste has been swelling amid alarming forecasts there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050.

Besides that, shocking images keep hammering the point home. Notable campaigns included one by Britain’s Sky News that showed whales bloated by plastic bags when the creatures were cut open after dying. Further trash horrors were underscored by TV naturalist David Attenborough, whose documentary Blue Planet II delivered heartbreaking shots of sea turtles shrouded in plastic.

And where consumers’ attention goes, so does that of companies.

Amcor, L’oreal, Mars, Pepsico, Coca-cola, Unilever, Walmart and Werner & Mertz are among major global firms who have committed to move, where relevant, from singleuse to reusable packaging by 2025, according to the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, an innovation think-tank.

Last year, IHG said it would stop using plastic straws by the end of 2019.

Mr Barr said “the next big thing to tackle” would be the plastic plates and cutlery used for its breakfast service.

In addition, the company has teamed up with artificial intelligence firm Winnow on a pilot to monitor waste across breakfast buffets in some of its hotels.

IHG has committed to reducing its carbon footprint per occupied room by 6 per cent by next year.