Making sure hotel guests have a top-tier hotel experience involves ensuring they are conveniently well hydrated. While plastic bottled water might have been a popular hotel nightstand staple of the past, now future-focused hotels are taking a different path toward reuse and refilling.
Are travelers demanding more sustainability these days?
Travelers and hotel guests have already decided that they want sustainability. Actually, 93% of travelers globally say that they want to make more sustainable travel choices but need the options to do so. Hotel sustainability is now becoming a universal expectation, with 78% of luxury travelers saying it's important to choose travel companies with strong sustainable policies. This means that even the highest spending segments of the market are actively factoring environmental responsibility into their booking decisions.
With hotels signing on to programs Surf Rider Foundation’s “Ocean Friendly” Pledge and banning single-use plastic, sustainability is rapidly going from a nice-to-have amenity to part of the hotel experience and offering itself.
Is hotel single-use plastic bottled water a kind gesture or a health and environmental faux pas?
Over 1 million plastic water bottles are sold worldwide every single minute, and fewer than 10% are ever recycled. When you multiply that by every hotel room, every minibar, and every conference table, you will start to see why the hotel industry is starting to take action.
The average hotel guest generates around 2.2 pounds of waste per night, and a significant portion of that is potentially recyclable. Hotels, by their design, are high-volume waste generators, which is precisely what makes the hospitality sector uniquely positioned to drive meaningful change around waste at scale. It’s no wonder many hotels and chains are pulling up their sleeves to improve the guest experience around hydration while reducing waste.
What government regulations are driving hospitality waste reduction?
Beyond the consumer pressure, legislation in particular states is accelerating the shift toward waste reduction measures.
New York State has enacted a law that took effect on January 1, 2025, prohibiting hotels with 50 or more rooms from providing small plastic bottles containing less than 12 ounces of personal care products. The ban expands to all hotels in 2026. Eliminating these bottles from NYC hotels alone is expected to reduce annual waste by 27 million plastic bottles.
California moved first, passing a similar toiletry ban in 2019, and went further still with SB 54 legislation that was signed in 2022 and aims to reduce single-use plastics by 25% by 2032, pushing hotels to adopt refillable solutions well ahead of compliance proactively.
The European Union has also gone a step further by voting to phase out and eventually ban single-use plastics from hotels, which is reshaping expectations for international hotel brands operating across borders.
Why is reducing single-use plastic waste good for the hospitality industry?
Hotels that have switched to installing bulk dispensers or have normalized branded reusable water bottles report cost savings by no longer needing to restock individual units.
Marriott, which began replacing single-use toiletry water bottles with wall-mounted dispensers, found that guest feedback was overwhelmingly positive. It was estimated that the initiative would eliminate 500 million single use bottles annually once fully implemented across its global properties. The reusable water bottle on the nightstand and the refill station in the hotel lobby are seen by guests as upgrades that make staying hydrated functional and sustainable.
The phase-out of single-use plastic bottled water in the hotel industry is the culmination of travelers, lawmakers, and forward-looking hoteliers seeking a better experience for guests, an easier lift for the hotel, and a lighter waste footprint.
Beyond compliance, the financial argument for shifting away from single-use plastic water bottles and toiletries is compelling on its own. Dan Bornholdt, founder of Green Suites Hotel Solutions, which has supplied the hospitality sector for 30 years, said that their hotel clients switching to refillable dispensers save between 30% and 70% on amenity costs.
What is the easiest sustainable hotel initiative to boost guest satisfaction and marketing?
Hotels that partner with PATH in the #PartneringtoSavethePlanet programs are finding it extremely rewarding to tackle hotel waste, improve guest experience, and leave a lasting impression on guests that get to refill their cobranded bottle well after their stay. It’s easy to get started and have PATH designers customize a perfect bottle for your hotel brand. PATH also helps if you’re in need of incorporating hydration stations for guests. The PATH cobrand initiative delivers the fun and excitement, along with consideration for proper guest hydration that is often overlooked.
Explore Your Hotel’s Partnership with PATH! >
Resources
https://marriott.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/marriott-international-eliminate-single-use-shower-toiletry
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11429257/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11402132/
https://www.statista.com/chart/28162/how-much-do-sustainable-accommodations-matter-to-travelers/
https://news.booking.com/bookingcoms-2025-research-reveals-growing-traveler-awareness-of-tourism-impact-on-communities-both-at-home-and-abroad/
https://recyclingworksma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Organic-Waste-Management_Hotel_Munoz.pdf
http://ihmpusa.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Journal_Volume-10-Issue-2-8.pdf