Part of the bathroom inside a room at a Marriot hotel.
© Naomi Skinner/Times Record News / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Albany, NY) – If you like getting those little shampoo and body wash containers anytime you visit a hotel, we’ve got some bad news. Their days are numbered — at least in New York. Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation into effect back in 2021, and it bans hotels with more than 50 rooms from supplying certain toiletry bottles.
If the lotion, shampoo, or liquid soap is in a bottle smaller than 12 ounces, it’s no longer allowed, beginning January 1, 2025. This is all part of New York State’s aim to cut down on single-use plastic, and plastic waste. Smaller hotels have until 2026 to comply.
Violators who are caught not in compliance with the new regulations will face a fine. If they comply and switch to larger pump-topped bottles within 30 days, they can avoid that penalty.
Lawmakers in Albany first passed the bill in 2019. Only California has a similar ban, among the 50 states.
