Hyatt is eliminating travel-sized plastic toiletries

Hyatt is the latest international hotel brand to ditch travel-sized toiletries from its rooms, following Holiday Inn-owner InterContinental Group and Marriott International.

Portable tubes of shampoo, conditioner and bath gel will be replaced with bulk-sized toiletries across Hyatt’s global chain of 220,000 rooms beginning in June 2021. The changes will affect Hyatt’s 900 hotels worldwide, encompassing 20 brands, including Park Hyatt, Hyatt Place and the Andaz.

“Plastic pollution is a global issue, and we hope our efforts will motivate guests, customers and, indeed, ourselves to think more critically about our use of plastic,” Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO of Hyatt, said in a press release.

Hyatt is also placing a greater emphasis on encouraging customers to use reusable water bottles by making bottled water available only by request and increasing the number of fresh water stations in its lobbies.

The initiative is part of the hotel chain’s broader commitment to “reduce disposables and select environmentally preferable options whenever possible,” the company said. Hyatt removed plastic straws and drink picks in September 2018. It’s also part of the Clean the World program, which recycles and sanitizes soap and gives them to needy communities.

Pitching plastic

Businesses are facing disruption from climate change and customers are increasingly demanding that products and services are environmentally friendly. Cost-cutting is another reason why hotels are doing this because they can spend less on replacing the portable products.

Marriott said in August it was ditching personal toiletries from its more than 1 million guest rooms beginning in December 2020. The chain, which also owns Ritz-Carlton and W Hotels, said it expects to reduce its plastic disposal by 30% annually.

IHG said in July that guests staying in the 843,000 rooms across its global hotel chain will find large-format toiletries beginning in 2021.

Hilton, which has more than 950,000 rooms globally, is likewise transitioning from single-use to bulk toiletries by next year. The hotel chain also told CNN Business that it has a number of other environmental initiatives in place, including being part of the Clean the World soap program and improving energy efficiency.