We’d neverrrr encourage swiping those small shampoo bottles you find in the showers in your hotel room, but we will say if you were planning on using them to restock your own bathroom toiletries your hotel room won’t do you any good beginning next year. That’s because on January 1, 2025 New York State will officially ban single-use toiletry bottles under 12 ounces.
According to The Department of Environmental Conservation, the toiletry bottles will be banned from hotels with more than 50 rooms, though by 2026 all New York hotels will have to comply.
The bill, which was first introduced in 2019, is part of an effort to cut down on single-use plastic.
First-time offenders that don’t comply with the bill will receive a warning with 30 days to “correct the violation.” However, if they don’t correct the violation, they’ll have to pay a $250 fine. After another 30 days hotels still not complying will be hit with a $500 fine.
You may have already experienced this for yourself as some hotels have already begun making adjustments, transitioning to using larger pump bottles and shampoo bars.
A Marriott Hotels spokesperson told FOX Business, “We have long been focused on our residential amenities program, switching from small toiletry bottles to larger, pump-topped bottles as part of our commitment to reduce plastic waste.”
A spokesperson for Hilton added, “As of 2023, Hilton properties were required to transition to full-size shampoo, conditioner, and soap amenities, eliminating single-use miniature bottles and reducing disposed bars of soap.”
The bill was originally supposed to go into effect on January 1, 2023, though hotel industry lobbyists asked it be delayed to give hotel staff a chance to use any bottles left in stock. Once the bill goes into effect on January 1, 2025, New York will become the second state to implement the ban, after California.