Thailand’s Akaryn declares war on single use plastic
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Thai based luxury boutique hotel specialist, and home grown success story, Akaryn Hotel Group, is on a mission to become a single-use plastic free hotel company by June 2019.
The group’s newest hotel, akyra TAS Sukhumvit Bangkok, which opened last May, led the way by becoming the first new hotel in Asia to launch without any single-use plastic in its rooms, restaurants or bars. akyra Manor Chiang Mai quickly followed suit, becoming free of single-use plastic in October 2018. All other Aleenta — and akyra — branded hotels are now well on the way to achieving this goal.
“Our eco-friendly approach began by sourcing glass bottles and containers, as part of a commitment to eliminate single-use plastic from our restaurants or bars. This initiative was quickly extended to our guest rooms.
We initially aimed to become a single-use plastic free company by 2020, but we’re making such strong progress that this target date has been brought forward to June 2019. We hope that other hotel groups will follow our example; together we can help to rid the world of single-use plastic,” explained Anchalika Kijkanakorn, AKARYN Hotel Group’s founder and managing director.
Upon arrival at AKARYN Hotel Group’s properties, all guests are provided with stylish stainless-steel water bottles, which they can refill and reuse at any time during their stay. The group uses biodegradable refuse bags in all its rooms, and reusable shopping bags are available for guests who want to indulge in a spot of retail therapy.
Locally manufactured celadon pottery containers are also used for its bathroom amenities and essential oils – an initiative which has saved over 25,000 pieces of single-used plastic since akyra TAS Sukhumvit Bangkok first opened. This includes an average of 1,000 toothbrushes, 300 shower caps, 300 combs and 1,500 toiletry bottles every month. An estimated 200 plastic sanitary bags have been replaced with paper versions.
In addition, this pioneering new hotel has saved approximately 7,000 plastic straws in the last six months, simply by using glass and stainless steel alternatives. It also recycles its glass bottles, reducing its use of plastic bottles by approximately 20,000 per year.
Without these initiatives, every item of single-use plastic – tens of thousands of pieces every year – would be added to Thailand’s landfill sites, or worse, they could potentially find their way into the world’s rivers, seas and oceans, creating lethal hazards for wildlife.
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