This State Just Banned Small Toiletry Bottles at Hotels The new law will go into effect on January 1, 2025, for hotels with 50 rooms or more and on January 1, 2026, for all other hotels.
By Emily Rella Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- The New York State Assembly passed a law this week that bans hotels from providing guests with plastic toiletry products under 12 ounces.
- The law will go into effect on January 1, 2025, for hotels with 50 rooms or more and all other hotels on January 1, 2026.
- California enacted a similar ban in 2023.
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If you're traveling to New York soon, you might want to think twice if you don't pack your toiletries.
A new bill passed in the State Assembly this week banning hotels with more than 50 rooms from providing guests small shampoo, moisturizers, toiletries, or other "hospitality personal care products" in small, plastic bottles under 12 ounces, effective January 1, 2025.
Related: Technology Provides a Solution To Pace Down Plastic Pollution
Per the law, a hospitality personal care product is defined as any "product provided by a hotel and intended to be applied to or used on the human body or any part thereof for cleansing."
As of January 1, 2026, hotels of all sizes in the state will be forced to comply with the rule.
The bill comes as the state's Department of Environmental Conservation aims to reduce plastic waste, per the New York Times.
Hotels that do not comply with the ban will have thirty days to correct the violation before receiving a $250 "civil penalty" fine.
If the hotel does not fix the issue within another 30 days, they will receive an additional $500 fine. Money raised by the fines will reportedly be put into an environmental protection fund for the state.
Related: This Company Turns Plastic Garbage Into Construction Materials
New York joins California in banning the tiny bottles, which passed a similar law in 2019 (effective in 2023 for hotels with over 50 rooms). The rest of the state's hotels were forced to comply with the rule as of January 1 this year.
Washington state will be the next to join the cause — a similar law is set to be enacted in 2027.
