Bathroom miniatures to be removed from IHG hotels

The UK-based owner of Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotels has pledged to switch to bulk-size bathroom amenities in its 843,000 rooms by 2021. This has already been achieved in around one-third of its estate.

The move comes as the world-wide hotel chain continues to build on its efforts to reduce plastic waste as part of a broader sustainability agenda. 

Keith Barr, CEO, IHG, said: “It’s more important than ever that companies challenge themselves to operate responsibly – we know it’s what our guests, owners, colleagues, investors and suppliers rightly expect. 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. 

“We’ve already made great strides in this area, with almost a third of our estate already adopting the change and we’re proud to lead our industry by making this a brand standard for every single IHG hotel. We’re passionate about sustainability and we’ll continue to explore ways to make a positive difference to the environment and our local communities.”

IHG currently has an average of 200 million bathroom miniatures in use across its entire hotel estate every year. The company expects to see a large reduction in plastic waste as the new brand standard is adopted between now and 2021,

This commitment builds on IHG’s pledge announced in October 2018 to remove plastic straws from its hotels by the end of 2019, and a number of broader waste reduction initiatives already in place.

IHG remains a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index, and recently joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Economy 100 network, signalling its commitment to working with cross-industry partners to build a more sustainable world.