New York to ban mini toiletries in hotels from this date

New York is set to enforce a ban on single-use toiletry bottles in hotels from January 1, 2025.

This will affect hotels with more than fifty rooms, which will no longer be able to provide mini toiletries such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash and moisturisers.

Smaller establishments, those with 50 rooms or less, will have an additional year, until 2026, to adhere to the new state-wide prohibition.

The New York State Senate bill stipulates that a "hotel shall not provide any small plastic bottle containing a hospitality personal care product."

Hotels failing to comply with the law will face penalties.

A first violation, following a warning and failure to rectify the situation, will result in a fine of $250 (£193). Subsequent violations within the same calendar year will incur a higher penalty of $500 (£386).

The funds collected from these fines will be directed towards the state's Environmental Protection Fund. 

The original plan was to introduce a single-use plastic ban in hospitality businesses in 2023 and 2024, but this was delayed due to the pandemic, according to Times Union. With this move, New York joins California as the only two states in the US to prohibit these small toiletries commonly found in hotel bathrooms, reports Birmingham Live.

John Fitzpatrick, owner of two four-star hotels in Midtown Manhattan, told the New York Times: "In this day and age, we have to watch our carbon footprint, and we have to stop using plastics and all sorts of stuff as best we can."

Major hotel groups like InterContinental Hotels Group and Marriott have vowed to cut down on plastic usage. A spokesperson for Marriott revealed the company's initiative to replace small plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles with "larger, pump-topped bottles."

The spokesperson elaborated: "Once fully implemented, we have estimated that the switch prevents around 500 million small bath amenity bottles from going to landfills each year."