The State of New York recently passed some legislation that will end with the use of millions of single-use plastic toiletry bottles in hotels. Bills S543 and A5082 will prohibit hotels and motels from using single-use plastic toiletry bottles smaller than 12 ounces in guest rooms.
The hotels are expected to switch to refillable dispensers, therefore, reducing both the number of unused liquids that are discarded and the amount of plastic waste generated by every guest visit. The new laws will take effect from January 1, 2024, for all hotels bigger than 50 rooms and one year later for all smaller hotels.
It is estimated that around 10 million tons of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year contaminating and threatening marine life. We keep seeing over the net images of whales with stomachs full of plastic, turtles, and fish wrapped in different types of plastic.
“Reducing single-use plastics is vital in the fight against the climate crisis—plastic is a major source of carbon emissions and a financial anchor to the fossil fuel industry. This new law tackles the ever-growing problem associated with plastic waste and will prevent tens of millions of plastic bottles from becoming a waste burden in New York every year, The Kaminsky-Englebright toiletry bottle ban legislation is a step forward in its own right and emblematic of emerging efforts to break away from all throw-away plastics made from fossil fuels.”
Eric A. Goldstein, Senior Attorney and New York City Environment Director at Natural Resources Defense Council
Once signed the law, New York will become the 2nd state to enact such a ban following the State of California
In the last couple of years, many leading hotel chains began embracing reusable alternatives. Marriott, InterContinental Hotels Group, which owns the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza chains, as well as Walt Disney Co. and Hyatt Hotels are a few examples who will prevent millions of bottles from getting to the sea.
