The France-based company, which owns brands such as Novotel, Sofitel, Fairmont, Raffles and Ibis, also said it planned to join the new UN-backed Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, which was launched on Wednesday (23 January) with the aim of cutting plastic pollution created by the travel industry.

Sebastien Bazin, chairman and chief executive of Accor, said: “We are aware of the significant impact we have on our planet and our responsibility to create tangible benefits for our employees, guests, suppliers, partners and host communities.

“What guides us is the consciousness and social awareness that drives every person who strives to be a good citizen. It’s about being aware, socially conscious and consistent.”

Accor, which caters for more than 120 million guests and serves in excess of 200 million meals a year, has previously committed to stop using plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds at its hotels – 94% of Accor’s hotels have already achieved this goal with the other 6% of properties (mostly in China) set to follow suit by the end of March 2020.

Now the group is promising to go further with new measures, including the removal of individual plastic toiletry bottles and cups by the end of this year.

Accor will also eliminate all remaining single-use plastic items in rooms, meeting areas, restaurants, spas and gyms by the end of 2022.

A new hotel brand called Greet has been created by Accor with “the DNA to be plastic-free”, including no disposable plastic items in the rooms, at breakfast or in the other parts of the hotels.

The first Greet property opened in Burgundy, France, in September 2019, and Accor plans to open 10 more Greet hotels in Europe this year.

Bazin said: “We are an innovative group by nature and we continuously search for more areas where we can reduce our impact on the global environment while helping our local communities in their efforts to create a healthier, more sustainable future.

“As we work to deliver on our commitments, we are grateful to our dedicated teams of employees all over the world who share our belief in making the world a better place for our guests, while they are travelling with us and even while they are not.”