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Marriott phases out plastic straws

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SINGAPORE, 20 July 2018: Marriott International has pledged to eliminate more than 1 billion plastic straws annually from hotels it owns and manages worldwide.

The group announced details of a plan to remove disposable plastic straws and plastic stirrers from its more than 6,500 properties across 30 brands worldwide.

It will take a year to roll out the ban across all of its hotels, but when it succeeds it will remove 1 billion plastic straws per year and about a quarter billion stirrers, according to the group’s statement.

A single plastic straw – which might be used for less than 15 minutes – will never fully decompose.

“We are proud to be among the first large US companies to announce that we’re eliminating plastic straws in our properties,” said Marriott International chief executive officer and president, Arne Sorenson.

“Removing plastic straws is one of the simplest ways our guests can contribute to plastic reduction when staying with us – something they are increasingly concerned about and are already doing in their own homes.

“We are committed to operating responsibly and with over one million guests staying with us every night we think this is a powerful step forward to reducing our reliance on plastics.”

Marriott International properties will provide alternative straws, not made from plastic, when requested by guests.

Marriott’s plastic straw initiative is the latest change the hospitality company is making to enhance the sustainability of its operations and reduce plastic consumption.

Earlier this year, Marriott began replacing small toiletry bottles in bathrooms of about 450 select-service hotels with larger in-shower dispensers to reduce waste.

The new toiletry dispensers are expected to be in place at more than 1,500 hotels in North America by the end of this year, which would enable Marriott to eliminate more than 35 million small plastic toiletry bottles annually.

Last year, the company set ambitious sustainability and social impact goals ever that call for reducing landfill waste by 45% and responsibly sourcing of its top 10 product purchase categories by 2025.

Hotels worldwide are already eliminating plastic straws. In February, more than 60 hotels in the UK eliminated plastic straws and began offering consumers alternate straws upon request. Many individual properties – ranging from urban boutique hotels to oceanfront resorts – have also been on the forefront of this initiative.

Marriott cited examples of hotels in Europe and the Americas that are removing plastic straws. It singled out a hotel in Brisbane and one on Hawaii. None of the group’s hotels in Asia were identified in the move to eliminate straws so far.

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