The ‘Plastics Only, Please’ initiative will coincide with this month’s World Environment Day and World Ocean Day

Centara Hotels & Resorts, Thailand’s leading hotel operator, is marking this year’s World Environment Day (5th June) and Ocean Day (8th June) events with the revival of its highly successful 2019 ‘Plastics Only, Please’ (P-O-P) campaign to raise awareness and take action against plastic waste. As part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability, all Centara’s properties will feature POP sculptures - wire sea life creations - that serve as bins for plastic waste found on or around the beach from 5th - 30th June 2023.

Throughout this initiative, guests and staff are encouraged to collect plastic refuse and “feed” it to the hungry P-O-P creatures. At the end of each week, Centara’s waste management teams will remove the contents, weigh the trash, and prepare it for sorting and delivery to local recycling facilities. In 2019, these ‘plastic-eating’ sculptures collected over 400 kilograms of plastic waste, serving to lessen the burden of plastic in local landfills and ensuring reusable plastic materials were recycled and reused properly rather than thrown away.

“At Centara, we are deeply committed to sustainability and believe in doing our part to not only raise awareness about environmental issues, but to put those ideas into action. After the success of our ‘Plastics Only, Please’ campaign in 2019, we are looking forward to achieving even greater results this year with a new range of P-O-P sculptures to be featured at our incredible beachfront properties. We encourage guests, staff and anyone who happens upon plastic waste to help support our initiative and #BeatPlasticPollution together,” said David Good, EVP - Hotel Operations for Centara Hotels & Resorts.

Both the World Environment Day: Solutions to Plastic Pollution #BeatPlasticPollution and World Ocean Day campaigns are part of the growing worldwide plastic reduction movement that has gained significant traction in recent years. By 2025, Centara aims to have 100% of its properties certified as sustainable by accredited certification bodies as a key element of the organisation’s long-term sustainability objectives and eliminate single-use plastic items, including drinking straws, laundry bags, take-away food containers, fitness centre and poolside plastic bottles, and plastic guest room amenities, to minimise environmental impact across the entire guest journey.

For more information on Centara’s commitment to sustainability, please visit https://www.centarahotelsresorts.com/sustainability