IHG Ditches Mini Toiletries
Jackie Reddy July 31, 2019
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has said that, from 2021, it will be swapping miniature toiletries for bulk-sized bathroom goods across its wider estate of hotels. The announcement will affect almost 843,000 rooms. The chain will be the first hotel company to enact such a sustainability policy.
As part of a push towards greater sustainability, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced that, from 2021, it will be swapping miniature toiletries for bulk-sized bathroom goods across its hotel estate. In a statement, IHG, which owns the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotel brands, has confirmed that this change will affect nearly 843,000 guest units, making it the first hotel chain “to commit all brands to removing bathroom miniatures in favor of bulk-size amenities.”
At present, the chain says that it uses about 200 million of these toiletry miniatures throughout its hotels each year. As a result of this swap to bulk toiletries, it hopes to make “a significant reduction” in the quantity of plastic waste it generates.
This announcement comes on the back of IHG’s decision to stop offering single-use plastic straws by the close of 2019.
Speaking of IHG’s decision to move to bulk-sized toiletry amenities, company CEO Keith Barr 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,” he added.
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There’s no tampering safeguards in bulk items… potential for malicious intention to substitute lye or bleach in the shampoo/conditioner. Just like hotel minibars, I would rather trust the booze bought myself than to risk consuming rubbing alcohol.
This is pathetic. I take home the bottles I half use and use the rest later. I travel so much it means I never need to buy shampoo or conditioner. Now I will. It's just a cost saving measure.
no thanks, as a Ambassador, I find this move ... all about money from now on, I will bring my own.. dont like the bulk stuff..
Hotels are just using the thinly veiled guise of environmental sustainability to replace the toiletries with bulk items at significantly lower cost. Not to mention the impacts of these bulk items being unsanitary.
I'm so excited about this. I could never get the last of the soap out of the tiny bottle and I always felt terrible about the many half-empty plastic bottles I left behind. To address points above: - they will probably continue to have bar hand soap that you can take home as a souvenir - most plastic is not recycled; it is shipped to poor countries where it is incinerated or disposed of – and those poor countries are now refusing the shipments (this is a huge problem generally for recycling) - That same guy who cleaned his privates and then touched the soap pump also touched the tap handles with that hand – and does so now under the current system. I'm assuming you still touch those tap handles that have been touched by someone else's genitalia hands, right? I'm not sure why the soap dispensers are somehow worse.