Final Straw

The purge on plastic is gathering momentum.

- Dominic Ellis

The small ninth floor office of Avani Middle East in the heart of Dubai’s Jumeirah Lake Towers seems an unlikely fulcrum in the plastic revolution, but the regional distribution arm of the Indonesia-based company is busy meeting rising hospitality demand for biodegradable and plastic-free products.

It’s a short drive across the road to meet Managing Director Peter Avram but it feels a longer journey; after years of sitting through sustainability seminars, it’s heartening to see words turning to action and hotels finally taking the plastic scourge seriously, even if we are barely out of first gear.

Changes are coming thick and fast. Hilton claims it will become the first global operator to remove plastic straws from all 650 managed hotels by the end of 2018. Alongside saving five million straws across Europe, Middle East and Africa hotels, it has pledged to remove 20 million plastic water bottles annually from meetings and events.

Guests staying at Jumeirah at Saadiyat Island Resort, due to open on November 11, will be provided with resusable plastic bottles which can be refilled at water stations. Other venues have taken it upon themselves to act, such as Basta! at Renaissance Downtown Hotel Dubai, which has introduced pasta straws and all three of David Myers’ three venues in the city will soon ban plastic straws entirely.

PLASTIC IN ALL BUT NAME

Avram’s desk is seemingly strewn with plastic cornucopia – bags, straws, cups, cartons and salad bowls – but looks are deceptive: they are all environmentally friendly. The black straws, enscribed ‘I am not plastic’, are made from cornstarch, and the cups, which like any other disposable ones and can hold boiling water, are lined with it.