Sands China Discontinues Use of Plastic Straws in All Properties

This year, Sands China Ltd. discontinued use of plastic straws in all of its properties in an effort to reduce the consumption of single-use plastics. The company’s ban on plastic straws will eliminate the use of 2.2 million plastic straws each year, saving one ton of plastic. Laid end to end on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, that represents enough straws to stretch from Macao to Hong Kong ten times.

Other measures include a plan to progressively replace hotel rooms’ single-use bathroom amenities such as shampoo and conditioner bottles with refillable dispensers, with implementation scheduled to begin early this year resulting in the estimated elimination of some 2.7 million plastic bottles per year.

Sands China has also redesigned the complimentary bottles of water supplied to rooms and suites, resulting in three million fewer bottles of water provided per year. Additionally, the company is installing filtered water dispensers in properties’ public areas on a trial basis: if uptake is positive the change will be rolled out in all properties, massively reducing the usage of bottled water.

In addition, efforts are being made to eliminate, replace or recycle 95 per cent of single-use plastic packaging, clothes hangers and garment clips currently used in the company’s laundry service operation.

Sands China’s environmental initiatives are part of the Sands ECO360 global sustainability strategy of parent company Las Vegas Sands Corp., which utilises measures like energy saving, resource recycling, conservation and community engagement. Sands ECO360 is designed to help minimise the company’s environmental impact and lead the way in sustainable building development and resort operations.