Reducing plastics in your hotel: Clean the World’s vision for a circular economy

Sustainability in the hospitality industry has long been a topic of discussion, but few leaders have managed to turn conversations into actionable change like Tommie Eaton, Director of Clean the World UK. With a career that brings together education, travel, and sustainability, Eaton’s mission is clear: to transform how hotels think about waste, particularly plastics, and to champion the circular economy as the future of sustainable hospitality.

Becoming an advocate for change

Reflecting on his early career, Tommie spoke about how a backpacking trip intended to last three months extended into seven years, during which he lived and worked in Australia and Asia, but learned more about sustainability, as well as hospitality.

It was during his time in Asia, collaborating with travel companies and tourism boards, that Eaton began to notice the stark realities of environmental degradation. “We started to see such an increase in plastic pollution along these similar routes that we were doing,” he recalled. The beaches and communities he once marveled at were increasingly overwhelmed by plastic waste. “We were witnessing plastic impacting marine life, plastic impacting people, especially in these kind of rural third, well, developing nations.”

This disconnect between the idyllic travel imagery he was promoting and the environmental crisis unfolding before him sparked a sense of responsibility. “We started to feel a bit fraudulent, really, because our role was to promote travel. But then we saw these beaches that were decimated with plastic.”

Clean the World: Revolutionising hospitality waste

This proved a turning point, and Eaton’s experiences led him to co-found Bamboo Brush in 2019, focusing on reducing plastic waste through bamboo toothbrushes and community clean-ups. However, it was his subsequent partnership with Clean the World that allowed him to scale these efforts to a global stage. Clean the World, founded in 2008, initially focused on recycling discarded soap from hotels and distributing it to vulnerable communities. But as Eaton explained, the organisation has since expanded its mission.

“Clean the world now has a huge focus on plastic recycling of bottled amenities,” he explained. The scale of the problem is daunting, with small volumes of contaminated plastics making traditional recycling methods inefficient. Yet Eaton and his team have pioneered a solution that makes it easy for hotels to participate in sustainable practices.

The process, Eaton shared, is “very seamless” for hotels. “The operations are really simple… housekeepers, then on their daily rounds, collect the different types of bottled amenity and soap. Instead of putting it in the bin, they put them into our collection devices.” Once the collection devices are full, logistics partners handle transport to Clean the World’s facilities, where waste is repurposed into new products, effectively creating a circular system.

With 1.6 million hotel rooms serviced daily and partnerships with 9,000 hotels globally, the impact is significant. Eaton noted, “We’re trying to capture as much plastic as we can and divert that from landfill.”

The Circular Economy: A model for the future?

Central to Eaton’s philosophy is the concept of the circular economy. He described it as a departure from the wasteful “buy, use, discard” linear economy that dominates the modern world. “Circular economy… [is about] looking at kind of redevelopment of a product or before we create a product, looking at the end of life,” he explained.

While terms like “net zero” dominate corporate sustainability discussions, Eaton believes the circular economy offers a more tangible starting point. “If you were to walk down the street and ask 100 people, ‘Have you heard of net zero?’ they’ll probably say yes. If you say, ‘Can you explain what net zero is?’ they probably won’t be able to answer it,” he remarked. The circular economy, by contrast, is a concept rooted in practical, understandable actions—reusing, repurposing, and reducing waste.

Sustainability challenges and opportunities in hospitality

Despite progress, Eaton acknowledged the challenges hotels face in adopting sustainable practices. “I don’t think they’re doing enough at the moment, and I don’t think it’s their fault,” he said, highlighting the time and resource constraints within the industry. However, he also pointed to the financial and operational benefits of sustainability, particularly when viewed through the lens of circularity.

“There’s a lot of financial savings in sustainability, maybe not in the short term,” he said. “But medium long term, there is some really big financial incentives… You may need to invest in something that’s reusable, but in a year or two years’ time, if you buy high quality, you’re not having to buy single-use plastic products.”

Eaton is also a strong proponent of data-driven sustainability. Clean the World’s impact metrics, such as kilograms of plastic diverted or the number of soap bars distributed, allow partners to track progress and comply with evolving environmental regulations. “It’s a really great learning piece, but also it can get your employees engaged,” he said, emphasising the storytelling potential of sustainability data.

A forward vision for hotels and the communities they serve

Looking ahead, Eaton envisions a hospitality industry that is not only more circular but also more integrated with local communities. “Hotels are going to start looking at how they can do more within their community and support, whether it’s food banks or homeless shelters,” he predicted.

Eaton also sees consumer demand as a driving force for change. “I think there’s going to be a lot more talk around how sustainable a hotel is from a marketing piece to get guests in,” he said, citing surveys that indicate a majority of travelers prefer sustainable accommodations, with many willing to pay a premium.

When asked for his advice to hoteliers, Eaton emphasised the importance of taking the first step. “Do an assessment… Have a full assessment of everything that you do, because I think there’s a lot of wasted time, a lot of wasted money, and a lot of wasted resources on business as usual.”

He also encouraged hotels to share their sustainability stories openly. “Let’s bring people on a journey. And then I think that’s where you’re going to get more customers engaged in what you’re doing, more guests and employees engaged… and you’re actually going to create more change.”