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Holiday Inn ditches miniature toiletries

Millions of miniature plastic toiletries will be removed from Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotels as part of a commitment by owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to tackle plastic waste.

The company has announced its entire hotel estate of almost 843,000 guest rooms will switch to bulk-size bathroom amenities such as refillable ceramic dispensers.

IHG currently has an average of 200 million bathroom miniatures in use across its entire hotel estate every year. It expects to see a significant reduction in plastic waste once the policy is fully implemented by 2021.

“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,” said IHG chief executive Keith Barr.

The commitment was welcomed by the plastic pollution campaigning organisation, City to Sea, whose founder Natalie Fee said IHG was “sending a message to the hotel industry that removing single-use plastic toiletries is a good business move as well as a sound environmental one”.

Separately, City to Sea has also praised Itsu and Cook who have become the latest businesses to join its Refill campaign where foodservice operators commit to offering free tap water refills to all customers who bring a reusable bottle.

The pair join other brands like Costa, Starbucks and Greggs that have already committed to the scheme, which enables the public to find participating food outlets via the Refill app.