Anantara Hotels & Resorts will roll out a global ban on the use of single-use plastic straws at every property worldwide by October 1st, 2018. In January, earlier this year, the hotel company implemented the single-use ban across its Asia properties.
Anantara group director of sustainability & conservation John Roberts said: “Each single-use plastic straw takes hundreds of years to break down and scientists predict there may soon be more straws than fish in the oceans by 2050. Anantara guests are forward thinking and sustainably minded and want to continue to enjoy the beautifully lush surroundings for which Anantara is famous for generations to come.”
Besides plastic straws, in April 2018, Anantara also made the decision to decision to replace the packaging of all dry amenities with compostable paper and plastic toothbrushes have been replaced with a biodegradable straw alternative.
For years, locally sourced toiletries such as shampoo, have been provided in larger ceramic pumps to reduce the amount of packaging and waste created by individual mini servings. This alone prevents an estimated 4.16 million plastic bottles from ending up in landfills around the world annually, the statement said.
The next item on the abolition list for Anantara will the plastic bottles. All plastic water bottles will be banned from rooms and gyms to be replaced with recyclable glass or refillable alternatives as a brand standard by the end of 2018.
But until then, the hotel revealed that guests will “notice an absence of plastic from all outlets and facilities in the Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas they frequent”.
The large-scale ban on all things plastic will also include removing plastic from front of house operations, condiments on the table as well as covering for baked goods at breakfast. The hotel staff will also incorporate bamboo baskets to collect compostable gardening trimmings instead of plastic sacks.
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