NEWS ANALYSIS
to play a role here, too. California is hoping to ban single-use amenities, and Taiwan recently joined a growing list of countries that have prohibited many single-use plastic items.
Investing in innovation For real change to happen, we need more innovation. Nicholas says: “Even when it comes to things like milk cartons in rooms, there are still no obvious solutions. Smaller hotels can provide fresh milk, but this isn’t an option for everyone.” One key innovation is water
plastic. Solutions explored in today’s panel session include making a commitment, investing in innovation and empowering communities and customers.
Making a commitment IHG is the first global hotel company to remove bathroom miniatures in favour of refillable amenities across its entire property portfolio. This means that 200 million miniatures will be removed from over 800,000 guest rooms by 2021. CEO Keith Barr explains: “We know that this is what our guests, owners, colleagues, investors and suppliers rightly expect.” IHG hopes the rest of the
industry will follow, especially as it moves towards a “circular economy” approach to waste. The next step for forward- thinking businesses is to use buying power to challenge and change supplier behaviour. This could involve everything from making sure dry-cleaning is delivered in reusable rather than plastic bags to purchasing fabrics made from recycled plastic. Legislation is increasingly likely
ABOVE: The plastic problem is affecting beaches worldwide
BELOW LEFT: Beach clean-ups and withdrawing the use of toiletry miniatures in hotels are part of the fight against plastic
filters offered by companies such as LifeStraw and Water-to-Go. The filter inside the bottle combines three different technologies to eliminate any harmful contaminants from tap or non-saltwater source. Dave Shanks, founder of Water-to-Go, believes that the travel industry has a long way to go when it comes to taking responsibility for the waste it causes. He says: “When each customer on each tour from each company uses single-use plastic bottles every day, you can start to envisage the scale of the problem we are facing.”
Empowering communities and customers Most experts agree that destinations need to lead on education and empowerment so that communities and customers can take action to tackle plastic pollution. During today’s session, we’ll hear from Colin James, CEO of Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority, about its decision to ban single-use plastic. Activities include the “Play it Out” festival and campaign, bringing local and international artists together to promote the island’s decision to phase out all single-use plastic.
Plastic Waste: What Should the Industry Do? takes place today from 15:45-17:00 in the Middle East & Africa Inspiration Zone
05.11.2019 WTM OFFICIAL EVENT DAILY 47
WHO’S LEADING THE WAY?
Six Senses Laamu, Maldives Six Senses Laamu has installed water refill stations in 21 schools. This has given over 3,700 students access to clean water and avoided the use of more than one million single-use plastic water bottles per year.
Akaryn Hotel Group, Thailand The Akaryn Hotel Group in Thailand opened Asia’s first single-use-plastic-free hotel last year. Since June 2019, no single-use plastic has been used front or back of house.
Wilderness Scotland, UK Wilderness Scotland is the first operator in the UK to fund the installation of a Seabin — new technology that acts like a floating vacuum cleaner for plastic waste in marinas and harbours.
Wild Frontiers, UK and worldwide Wild Frontiers has stopped offering single-use plastic water bottles on all trips and instead offers a branded Water-to-Go bottle to each customer. This saves the use of an estimated 25,000 plastic bottles a year.
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