Marriott to drop plastic straws by 2019

Marriott International has adopted a plan to remove disposable plastic straws and plastic stirrers from its more than 6,500 properties across 30 brands around the world. Once fully implemented in a year, the company could eliminate the use of more than 1 billion plastic straws per year and about a quarter billion stirrers. A single plastic straw—which might be used for about 15 minutes—will never fully decompose.

“We are proud to be among the first large U.S. companies to announce that we’re eliminating plastic straws in our properties worldwide,” Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International, said in a statement. “Removing plastic straws is one of the simplest ways our guests can contribute to plastic reduction when staying with us—something they are increasingly concerned about and are already doing in their own homes. We are committed to operating responsibly and—with over one million guests staying with us every night—we think this is a powerful step forward to reducing our reliance on plastics.”

Marriott’s plastic straw initiative is the latest change the hospitality company is making to enhance the sustainability of its operations and reduce plastic consumption. Earlier this year, Marriott began replacing small toiletry bottles in the guest bathrooms of about 450 select-service hotels with larger, in-shower dispensers that distribute more product for guests to use, reducing waste. The new toiletry dispensers are expected to be in place at more than 1,500 hotels in North America by the end of this year, which would enable Marriott to eliminate more than 35 million small plastic toiletry bottles annually that typically go to landfills.