New York state is set to ban disposable plastic toiletries in hotels.
From January 1, 2025, the miniature bottles of shampoo and conditioner will no longer be provided in hotels with more than 50 rooms.
Smaller institutions with fewer rooms will have until January 1, 2026 to comply with the ban.
Fines for violations start at $250 and increase for repeat violations. The money raised is used for conservation efforts in the state.
New York is the second state after California to ban the small bottles that hotel guests love to drink and often take home at the end of their stay.
New York State Bans Single-Use Plastic Toilet Bottles in Hotels
Starting January 1, 2025, hotels with more than 50 rooms will no longer provide miniature bottles of shampoo and conditioner
The initiative, originally proposed in 2019, was signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul in 2021. The delay will allow hotels to use their existing supply of small bottles.
New York’s legislation reflects a broader movement in the hospitality industry to reduce single-use plastic waste. Major hotel chains like Marriott and InterContinental Hotels Group have already committed to reducing their reliance on plastic, with toiletry bottles a major target.
By the end of 2023, 95 percent of Marriott hotels had switched to larger, pump-action dispensers for shampoo and conditioner. This eco-friendly move is expected to continue in 2024.
The impact? Marriott estimates the change will prevent as many as 500 million small plastic bottles from ending up in landfills each year, a spokesperson told The New York Times.
But smaller, more upscale hotels are struggling with the transition. John Fitzpatrick, a hotelier who owns two four-star hotels in Midtown Manhattan, told the Times that he worries that the wall-mounted pump bottles will be harder to clean.
Fitzpatrick and his team brainstormed and proposed making aluminum foil containers the size of sauce packets. The question is, would these containers be easy to open in the shower?
“You know, I thought companies would come up with a lot of new ideas,” Fitzpatrick said. “But here we are, sitting around the table.”
Smaller establishments with fewer than 50 rooms have until January 1, 2026 to comply with the ban
New York will become the second state after California to ban the small bottles that hotel guests love to use and even keep for themselves after their trip in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.
With New York’s tourism nearing pre-pandemic levels — the city attracted 62 million tourists last year, 93 percent of the 2019 record — Fitzpatrick says hotel guests care more about cleanliness and hygiene now than ever.
That’s why he predicts hotels will likely switch to a new luxury toiletries supplier for their larger bottles, hoping guests will be so pleased with the luxury brand that they’ll forgive other guests for using them before them.
“It’s a concern for us,” Fitzpatrick said. “We’re not entirely sure how it’s going to work.”
