For many, one of the greatest thrills of hotel getaways is the loading up of mini amenities. Those who are thinking of packing a memento back from Europe, though, might one day have their plans foiled.
The European Commission is proposing to wipe complimentary toiletries off hotel bathrooms across the EU as part of its plans to make all packaging recyclable by 2030.
If this pans out, hotels in the EU may have to encourage guests to carry their own shower gels and shampoo bottles. Or places of accommodation may have to be more creative and bring in refillable bottles, or even toiletries with bio-based packaging, to continue giving patrons that luxury experience.
“Without action, the EU would see a further 19% increase in packaging waste by 2030, and for plastic packaging waste even a 46% increase,” the European Commission announces.
Besides hotel amenities, the Commission is also pitching an EU-wide ban on single-use food packaging and disposable fruit and vegetable wrappers in hopes for the packaging sector to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Some of these plans are already in place on a smaller scale—when 2023 rolls in, fast-food businesses in France will no longer be allowed to dole out disposable cutlery to dine-in customers.
As the blueprint is still in the works, there’s no official start date for a full EU enforcement yet.