Local hotels are moving to change single-use bathroom amenities to multi-use pump bottles in preparation for the government's ban on use of disposable products next year.

Local hotels are rushing to make preparations for the Ministry of Environment's regulation that will ban accommodations with more than 50 guest rooms from offering disposable products to guests, beginning next year.

Most hotels here seem to agree with the need to reduce the use of single-use plastic products, given that hotel amenities made of and packaged in plastic contribute to environmental problems.

But the question now is how hotels can change their strategies, as they have until now given their guests the chance to experience shampoo, hair conditioner and shower gel produced by luxury brands and packaged in tiny plastic bottles.

Luxury hotels are moving to introduce such products in large-capacity bottles to their three-star and four-star hotel brands first.

Josun Hotels & Resorts furnished the guest rooms of the Gravity Seoul Pangyo, Autograph Collection, which opened in December, with pump bottles filled with shampoo and other products, rather than single-use miniature plastic bottles.

This decision marked the first time that large-capacity pump bottles have been placed in guest rooms among any of the eight hotels run by Josun Hotels & Resorts across the country.

Lotte Hotel is considering introducing 300-milliliter bottles for shampoo and hair conditioner, and changing the single-use small bars of soap to liquid soap in its Lotte City Hotel and L7 Hotel brands.

Hanwha Hotels & Resorts is also considering changing bathroom miniatures to large-capacity containers.

"We will take the characteristics and brand value of each of our hotels and resorts across the country into consideration, when selecting customized large-capacity products, in a bid to continue raising customer satisfaction," an official from Hanwha Hotels & Resorts said.

Still, a considerable number of hotels here are maintaining miniature plastic bottles filled with shampoo and shower gel, considering the fact that an increasing number of customers have placed more importance on hygiene and don't want to share items with others since the COVID-19 outbreak early last year.

The kind of shampoo and shower gel brands that are provided has also been one of the major points for customers in selecting a hotel, industry officials said, noting that luxury hotels are contemplating ways to maintain high-quality amenities while being committed to creating a positive environmental impact.

"When hotels first learned of the environment ministry's planned new regulation, some reacted against it, claiming that it would be almost impossible for luxury hotels to offer guests large-capacity containers filled with shampoo and then ask them to share them with others," said an official from a five-star hotel in Seoul's Gangnam District.

"But now, most hotels seem to agree with the need to reduce plastic waste as environmental, social and corporate governance principles have become key goals for companies all over the world."

By Jun Ji-hye

Words in This Article

disposable - adj. intended to be thrown away after use

amenity - n. something, such as a swimming pool or shopping centre, that is intended to make life more pleasant or comfortable for the people in a town, hotel, or other place

consideration - n. the act of thinking about something carefully

react - v. to act in a particular way as a direct result of something else

governance- n. the way that organizations or countries are managed at the highest level and the systems for doing this

Comprehension Quiz

What is the article mainly about?

What are the amenities that can be easily found in hotels or resorts?

What other regulations are need for hotels to prevent environmental problems?