Hotels across Illinois will no longer provide small plastic bottles of shampoo and conditioner under a new state law.
In August, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Single-Use Plastic Bottle Act into law with the aim of reducing plastic use at hotels. This means Chicago hotels will no longer offer single-use plastic bottles filled with personal care products to guests staying in a room or using the hotel's public restrooms.
The law goes into effect July 1, 2025 for hotels with 50 or more rooms and Jan. 1, 2026, for hotels with fewer than 50 rooms. Hotels will still have the option to provide personal care items to guests upon request at locations other than their rooms or public restrooms.
According to Michael Jacobson, president and CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, hotels are expected to transition to using refillable containers, a practice many places are already adopting.
"Most hotels have been in compliance with this new law for several years, as they proactively replaced single-use toiletries to meet demands of consumers who widely support more sustainable options," he told Crain's Chicago Business, a sister publication of Plastics News.
Major hotel chains such as Marriott, Hyatt and InterContinental Hotels Group, the owner of the Holiday Inn brand, began doing away with small toiletry bottles in 2019.
"Following months of negotiations with advocates of this bill, we chose to support a measure that had minimal impact on the day-to-day operations of our members and their customers," Jacobson said.
If establishments violate the law, they will receive a written warning for the first offense and a $500 fine for each subsequent violation. Other states such as New York, Washington and California have recently implemented similar laws aimed at reducing plastic use in hotels.