Release of infographics on the Recommendations to Continue Taking Action on Plastic Pollution during COVID-19 Recovery
The Recommendations to Continue Taking Action on Plastic Pollution during COVID-19 Recovery were developed by the UN Environment Programme, the UN World Tourism Organization and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. They were released by the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative in July 2020 to address the increase in the use of disposables as part of the response to the pandemic and support those willing to continue addressing plastic pollution during the recovery. They are available in six official languages of the United Nations (English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic and Russian).
The recommendations highlight how reducing the plastic footprint, increasing the engagement of suppliers, working closer with waste service providers, and ensuring transparency on the actions taken, can significantly contribute to a responsible recovery of the tourism sector. The recommendations argue for instance in favour of the elimination of plastics from the perspective of reducing potential cross contamination touch points where the virus could be transmitted; they also reiterate the importance to keep in mind that single-use plastics are not sanitization measures in themselves and instead, encourage businesses to develop in-house robust sanitization processes which in turn allows the integration of reuse model.
To help businesses to put these recommendations into practice, as an additional useful resource, Booking.com developed infographics that illustrate and summarise the key messages of all five recommendations. In particular, these infographics aim at bringing the recommendations closer to accommodation providers so that they can implement them and communicate their efforts and commitments to guests.
Booking.com is signatory of the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative.
Two versions are available: one for accommodation providers (landscape and portrait formats) and one for the guests (landscape and portrait format).
Have you implemented the recommendations? Please fill in this 5-min survey and tell us how.
The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative unites the tourism sector behind a common vision to address the root causes of plastic pollution. It enables businesses, governments, and other tourism stakeholders to take concerted action, leading by example in the shift towards circularity in the use of plastics. Learn more on the Initiative and how to join here.
