State mandates and shifting habits reshape packaging across hotels, grocery stores, and restaurants
For years, small plastic bottles of shampoo and conditioner sat on bathroom counters at Holiday Inn properties across Illinois. Housekeepers restocked them daily, guests pocketed them or left them half-used, and the empties ended up in landfills by the thousands each week.
This fall, at one Holiday Inn in suburban Chicago, the bottles are gone. Wall-mounted dispensers have taken their place. A housekeeper at the hotel, who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly, said staff received training on the new system in June. "We were told the law changed," she said. "Nobody complained. It's actually less work for us now."
The Illinois Small Plastic Bottle Act, signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker in August 2024, banned hotels with 50 or more rooms from providing single-use plastic bottles of personal care products beginning July 1, 2025. Smaller hotels face the same requirement starting January 2026. Violators face fines of up to $1,500 per offense after a written warning.
Illinois joins Washington, New York, and California in targeting hotel toiletries. Marriott International, which has more than 8,000 properties worldwide, announced in 2019 that it would phase out miniature bottles. The company supported the Illinois legislation.
"By reducing their footprint and opting for more economical and environmentally-friendly toiletry options, Illinois' hotel industry will keep thousands of pounds of plastic out of our landfills and waterways," said Andrea Densham, senior policy advisor for the Alliance for the Great Lakes, in a statement following the bill's signing.
Hotels are one piece of a larger regulatory shift. In January 2025, California's statewide ban on expanded polystyrene food service ware took effect after manufacturers failed to demonstrate a 25 percent recycling rate as required under Senate Bill 54. Oregon banned foam takeout containers and packaging containing PFAS starting the same month. Virginia now prohibits polystyrene at food establishments with 20 or more locations, with smaller businesses required to comply by July 2026.
The changes have created uneven burdens. Eric Terry, president of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging, and Travel Association, told Food Tank that one multi-unit operator in his association estimates the cost of switching to alternative containers at $30,000 to $40,000 per year.
"They're going to struggle more than almost anybody else to try to implement this," Terry said of small restaurants heavily reliant on foam packaging.
In York County, Virginia, Christopher Reitzel, owner of the food truck The Wandering Sausage, said in November 2025 that he had not yet switched to compliant containers. "At this time, we are looking at different options and best pricing," he said.
Others have adapted with less friction. Nicole Pereira, general manager of Amber Ox Public House and president of the Williamsburg Area Restaurant Association, said she has not heard widespread complaints. "With the costs of goods increasing regularly and just after dealing with COVID, those in the industry have thick skin to deal with these increases and changes to the industry," she said.
Grocery stores face their own transitions. California's SB 1053, signed in 2024, will eliminate all plastic checkout bags-including the thicker "reusable" versions-at supermarkets and retail stores starting January 1, 2026. Paper bags with at least 40 percent recycled content will be available for a minimum 10-cent charge.
The law closed a loophole that environmental groups had criticized for years. When California passed its original plastic bag ban in 2014, thicker plastic bags marketed as reusable were exempted. Investigations by California Attorney General Rob Bonta later found these bags were not actually recyclable at state facilities.
"Billions of plastic carryout bags end up in landfills, incinerators, and the environment instead of being recycled as the bags proclaim," Bonta said in October 2025 when announcing a $1.7 million settlement with four plastic bag manufacturers. "No corporation is above the law."
Celeste Meiffren-Swango, state director of Environment Oregon, has observed similar problems in her state. "These thicker bags are marketed as something that can be reused over 100 times," she said. "Unfortunately, few people actually reuse them. The result? They end up as trash and harm our environment just as much as the thinner plastic bags did."
In Washington, a scheduled fee increase will raise the minimum cost of plastic film carryout bags from 8 cents to 12 cents starting January 2026. The state's Department of Ecology is encouraging shoppers to bring their own bags. Paper bag fees remain at 8 cents. Customers using food benefits such as WIC or SNAP are exempt.
Consumer surveys suggest buyers are paying attention. A McKinsey survey of more than 11,000 respondents across 11 countries, conducted in the first quarter of 2025, found that recyclability ranked as the most important sustainability characteristic of packaging in every country surveyed. A separate survey by Shorr Packaging of 2,016 American consumers, released in January 2025, found that 90 percent said they were more likely to purchase from a brand with eco-friendly packaging.
Willingness to pay more varied by age. In the Shorr survey, 49 percent of Gen Z respondents and 47 percent of Millennials said they would spend extra for sustainable packaging, compared with 37 percent of Boomers.
The industry group American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance has pushed back against comprehensive bans. Erin Hass, a spokesperson, argued that canvas-type reusable bags often contain plastic and are not recyclable, while plastic film bags can be recycled. "Bag fees could be increased to encourage reuse and spur greater investment in collection and recycling programs," Hass said.
Extended Producer Responsibility laws, which require manufacturers to fund recycling programs, have now passed in seven U.S. states, according to the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. California and Oregon began collecting packaging data from producers in 2025, with fee collection to follow. Minnesota requires producers to register with the state's producer responsibility organization, with a July 2025 deadline.
In New Jersey, the 2022 ban on single-use plastic bags also prohibited paper bags at checkout-a decision that has drawn criticism. A 2024 study found that while fewer bags were used overall, the total amount of plastic consumed in the state tripled because shoppers shifted to thicker non-woven polypropylene totes. Legislation introduced in late 2025 would restore paper bags as an option.
Coastal Cleanup Day data in California offers one measure of the bans' effects. In 2009, plastic grocery bags made up 8.7 percent of litter found by volunteers. In 2024, they totaled 1.6 percent.
"If anyone ever tells you plastic bag bans don't work, this proves them wrong," said Eben Schwartz, marine debris program manager at the California Coastal Commission.
