Sustainability
Single-use plastics
Also written: single use plastic
What Single-use plastics means
Single-use plastics are disposable petroleum-based polymer items designed to be used once before being thrown away or recycled. In hospitality, distinct from municipal packaging, these primarily include guestroom amenity bottles, key cards, miniature toiletries, laundry bags, drinking straws, and food packaging.
How it is used
Hoteliers track single-use plastic consumption to reduce waste management costs, meet regional environmental regulations, and fulfill corporate ESG mandates. Phasing them out drives operational decisions toward bulk amenities, wooden or RFID bamboo keycards, and biodegradable packaging. Property management teams audit inventory counts per occupied room to benchmark reduction targets. Eliminating these items enhances brand reputation, appeals to eco-conscious travelers, and reduces long-term operational procurement expenditures despite higher initial swap costs.
Worked example
A 200-room hotel replacing individual 30ml shampoo bottles (costing $0.40 each, using 2 per occupied room at 75% annual occupancy) with refillable bulk dispensers saves 54,750 plastic bottles annually. The operational cost drops from $43,800 annually in mini-bottles to $12,000 in bulk liquid refills, yielding $31,800 in net operational savings.
Common mistake
Replacing single-use plastic with alternative materials like bioplastics can lead to greenwashing if local waste facilities cannot process industrial composting.
Related terms
Single-use plastics in our reporting
Recent stories where this term does real work.