ATLANTA — IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) announced it will switch its entire hotel portfolio of almost 843,000 guestrooms to feature bulk-size bathroom amenities, with the transition to be completed during 2021. Building on its efforts to reduce plastic waste as part of a broader sustainability agenda, this pledge makes IHG the first global hotel company to commit all brands to removing bathroom miniatures in favour of bulk-size amenities.
“It’s more important than ever that companies challenge themselves to operate responsibly,” says Keith Barr, CEO, IHG. “We know it’s what our guests, owners, colleagues, investors and suppliers rightly expect. 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.”
IHG currently uses an average of 200-million bathroom miniatures across its entire hotel portfolio every year. As the new brand standard is adopted, the company expects to see a significant reduction in plastic waste. This commitment builds on IHG’s pledge to remove plastic straws from its hotels by the end of 2019, as well as a number of broader waste-reduction initiatives already in place.
