Hotels and B & Bs will not actively provide disposable plastic products by the end of 2025

Original caption: Hotels and B & Bs will not actively provide disposable plastic products by the end of 2025

Source: Beijing Commercial Daily

Beijing Business Daily (reporter Guan Zichen) With the general increase in awareness of national environmental protection and increasing regulatory requirements, in the future, hotels and other accommodation will no longer actively provide disposable plastic products. On September 2, according to the official WeChat news of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce recently issued the “Notice on the further strengthening of the treatment of plastic pollution in the commercial sphere” (hereinafter, the “Notice”), and announced the tasks in stages of prohibition and limitation of plastic. , Which requires that by the end of 2022, star hotels, hotels and other venues across the country no longer actively provide disposable plastic products. By the end of 2025, the scope of implementation will be extended to all hotels, hotels and homestays. Industry experts noted that the introduction of this document will help reduce the supply and use of disposable plastic products in the housing industry. Today, many hotels and homestays have paid more and more attention to protecting the environment. Plastic bans and restrictions will also become a new trend in the future lodging industry. trend.

The advisory noted that in recent years, the consumption of plastic products, especially disposable plastic products, has continued to rise, bringing new challenges to the control of environmental pollution. Local business authorities should focus on key areas such as shopping malls, supermarkets, bazaars, catering, accommodation, exhibitions, e-commerce, etc., accurately understand the specific plastic bans and restrictions on different plastic products in deployment areas, nodes of time, etc., and understand them seriously. Implement.

In fact, regarding the restriction of the use of disposable plastic products in hotels and other places of accommodation, the relevant authorities have started promoting relevant works before. On January 19 of this year, the “Opinions on a further strengthening of the treatment of plastic pollution” issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment mentioned that by the end of 2022, hotels with stars and other places across the country will no longer actively provide disposable plastic products. Provide related services through the installation of self-service shopping machines and the supply of refillable detergents; By the end of 2025, the scope of implementation will be extended to all hotels, hotels and homestays.

In April this year, the National Development and Reform Commission also publicly solicited opinions on the “Catalog of prohibited and restricted production, sale and use of plastic products (draft for request for comments)” (hereinafter, the “Catalog”) . The “Catalog” states that prohibited and restricted plastic products include disposable plastic products in hotels and hotels, including plastic combs, toothbrushes, soap boxes, sewing boxes, shower caps, and laundry product packaging and care (such as shower gel bottles, shampoo bottles, moisturizer bottles, etc.), laundry bags, etc. From an industry perspective, it is imperative to promote various industries, including hotels, to say goodbye to disposable plastic products as soon as possible.

Zhao Huanyan, chief knowledge officer and senior economist at Huamei Hotel Consulting, said that there is indeed a certain amount of waste in disposable plastic products in hotels, guesthouses and other lodging industries, and it is also not conducive to environmental protection.

Zhao Huanyan further noted that, based on the current scale of the hotel industry, based on the estimated consumption of 2 toothbrushes (0.01 kg per piece of plastic) and 1 comb (0.005 kg per piece of plastic) per rental room , China’s hotel industry consumes at least 59 plastics per day. Tons, 21,535 tons per year, accounting for five ten thousandths of China’s annual production of 40 million tons of plastic waste, and this data set does not include small-size toiletries, disposable tableware, etc. Therefore, the hotel industry does not take the initiative to provide disposable plastic products, it will obviously greatly promote the development of environmental protection.

At the same time, some well-known hotel groups are also pushing to reduce the use of disposable plastic products. A reporter for Beijing Business Daily learned that InterContinental Hotels Group announced last year that it will gradually switch to large-bottle toiletries in its nearly 843,000 rooms around the world, and will complete this goal in 2021. The relevant person in charge of InterContinental Hotels Group said that before announcing full use of toiletries in large bottles, the group has tested this measure, with most guests expecting to use more environmentally friendly products while ensuring their stay. Not only that, IHG also began in October 2018 to replace plastic straws with biodegradable products on a global scale.

In terms of national hotel groups, hotel groups like Kaiyuan and BTG Home Inns have also worked on protecting the environment. According to the relevant person in charge of the New Century Hotel Group, many brands in the group, including Kaiyuan Fangcaoqing Country Hotel, Fangcao Qingqing RV Camp, Kaiyuan Guantang, Kaiyuan Mingting, Kaiyuan Mingdu, etc. have gradually changed their toiletries to large Packaged, and they use more ecological cleaning products, the packaging also uses recyclable or degradable materials.

Industry experts also suggest that while plastics are restricted and banned in hotels, the relevant rules and regulations should be further refined. For example, the competent authority should clearly propose that hotels should store containers of washing and care products (such as bath gel bottles, shampoo bottles and moisturizers). Frost bottles, etc.) are replaced by large bottles and non-plastic containers are required.

In addition, Zhao Huanyan also said that hotels in many countries and regions of the world no longer actively offer disposable plastic products, and the domestic hotel industry will also develop in this direction in the future. However, the actual implementation of the relevant policies requires local legislative support.

Editor in charge: Qi Qiqi