AccorHotels UK & Ireland to remove plastic straws by June
AccorHotels UK & Ireland has pledged to discontinue the use of plastic straws in its restaurants, cafes and bars, due 1 June 2018. The commitment will take effect across the 125 hotels it manages in the UK, with AccorHotels working with its franchise partners to implement the initiatives across its franchised estate of 113 hotels.
Shane Munro, VP Food & Beverage, AccorHotels UK & Ireland, said: “We are constantly looking at ways to reduce the environmental impact of our hotels and stopping the use of plastic straws in our cafes, bars and restaurants represents another significant step in this direction… Improving sustainability can be good for business at the same time as helping the planet.”
The group is asking its bars, restaurants and cafes to consider their drinks menus and go straw-free where possible, ordering alternative paper biodegradable straws sourced by AccorHotels’ procurement services team where absolutely necessary or specifically requested by guests.
Some hotels in the group have already started going plastic straw-free; in The Savoy Hotel, which is managed by AccorHotels since its acquisition of the Fairmont brand, plastic straws are never served with a drink, and when a cocktail may require a straw a biodegradable alternative is used. The hotel even commemorated this by creating a cocktail called ‘The Last Straw’ in its American Bar.
Other bars, restaurants and cafes that will implement the initiatives include the ultra-modern Bokan bar, restaurant and rooftop terrace in the flagship Novotel Canary Wharf and the Chill artisan cafes at Ibis Cambridge, Canning Town and Manchester Portland Street.
AccorHotels’ food and drinks outlets play a key role in its Planet21 sustainable development programme. Among the key targets for the programme’s current five-year period are a 30 per cent reduction in food waste and the introduction of 1,000 urban vegetable gardens in the group’s hotels.