In June 2022, the Hotel Association Nepal announced a ban on single-use plastics starting January 1, 2025, as part of its commitment to reducing plastic pollution and promoting sustainable tourism. Single-use plastics are designed to be used once and thrown away.

As the countdown begins, the initiative looks out of bounds for many hotels, particularly smaller ones, though big ones have already started phasing out single-use plastics.

“Most luxury hotels have already implemented the decision,” said Binayak Shah, president of the Hotel Association Nepal, the umbrella body of the hotels and resorts in Nepal. “But for small hotels, whose occupancy is currently only a third of their capacity, it appears difficult.”

Replacing plastic with glass bottles or eco-friendly products is expensive, said Shah.

Single-use plastics commonly used in hotels include water bottles, straws, cutlery, plates, drink stirrers, expanded polystyrene food service products, toothbrushes, and combs.

Nepal has 1,416 hotels, including star-rated and tourist standard establishments, offering a combined daily bed capacity of 54,370.

Even in luxury hotels, eliminating plastic water bottles has been a big challenge, according to hoteliers.

For example, a seal on a plastic water bottle certified with the NS mark ensures quality.

“But no glass water bottles available in Kathmandu come with a seal and NS mark. This has put a question mark on quality assurance,” said Shah. “However, we are in talks with bottling plants. As this can be a big business opportunity, they are responding positively.”

“The project may take some time to implement.”

The plastic-free initiative, however, could provide a viable business prospect in Nepal, although it may initially be expensive.

Bikas Khatri, director of Wave Nepal Pvt Ltd, a Kakani-based exporter of plastic bottled mineral water, said luxury hotels globally have started offering glass-bottled water to prioritise eco-friendly practices that align with modern consumer values.

Unlike plastic, glass can be recycled indefinitely without losing quality, supporting a circular economy and helping businesses achieve sustainability goals.

“Currently, we are getting orders for refilled water in ‘lock bottles’ from luxury hotels like Aloft, Marriott, and Hilton,” said Khatri. “Due to the high demand, we have ordered 20,000 glass bottles from India to launch the project, which will begin by mid-January.”

The glass-bottled water will be distributed like Coke and Pepsi.

A quality 500-ml bottle will cost Rs55 without adding transport cost. “So, after factoring in taxes and profit margins, a bottle may cost Rs100,” said Khatri. “This is the cost of the first delivery. By the fourth refill, the cost would be halved.”

“It’s a trial. Based on demand, we are also planning to import a refilling machine worth around $35,000,” said Khatri.

Most mineral water suppliers in Kathmandu use polycarbonate jars in addition to plastic bottled water.

According to estimates, the Kathmandu Valley consumes 100,000 water jars daily. In the peak season or summer, the valley alone uses 30,000 cases (12 bottles each case) of plastic bottled mineral water.

A five-star hotel, if fully occupied, consumes nearly Rs200,000 of water per day.

Unlike plastic, glass is fully recyclable and can be used multiple times, making it an environmentally responsible choice.

By reducing reliance on single-use plastics, restaurants and hotels significantly cut down on waste, contributing to a cleaner planet.

Plastic is one of the most important innovations, but single-use plastic products have a severe negative impact on the environment. Plastic is a convenient comfort in today’s world because of its inexpensive production cost and wide range of applications.

Single-use plastic products are more likely to end up in rivers than reusable options.

Plastic is a non-biodegradable material and most plastic is made from fossil fuels. If burnt, it poisons the air; if buried, it pollutes the soil. And plastic wastes dumped haphazardly have been clogging sewer mains and rivers, and polluting oceans.

Nepal still does not have effective waste recycling plants although several private firms have been recycling solid waste and producing compost manure on a small scale.

According to an Asian Development Bank report, a waste composition analysis in Nepal indicates that the highest waste fraction is organic matter (66 percent), followed by plastics (12 percent), paper and paper products (9 percent), others (5 percent), and glass (3 percent). Metal, textiles, and rubber and leather each account for 2 percent or less.

The most commonly found single-use plastic items in Nepal are plastic drinking bottles, littering rivers and rivulets. With the growing number of climbers, mainly on the world’s highest peak, Mt Everest, plastic waste has infiltrated the Himalayas and polluted freshwater sources.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said in its report that Kathmandu alone uses around 4.7 million to 4.8 million plastic bags a day. In Nepal, 16 percent of urban waste consists of plastic, which is 2.7 tonnes of daily plastic garbage production, it said.

Besides the sheer quantity of plastic waste being produced, a major problem with plastic is its resistance to degradation, ICIMOD said. A conservative estimate puts the average time for one single plastic bag to completely biodegrade at 500 years, it said.

“This means not only that most of the plastic we use during our lives will outlive us, but that our plastic footprint also will affect generations to come.”

In April 2015, Nepal declared Kathmandu a polythene bag-free zone. Several other areas have followed suit and declared themselves plastic-free, including Parbat, Myagdi, Damak and Ilam.

Plastic bans in urban mountain centres like Gangtok and Nainital in India in the late 1990s have demonstrated that daily life is as comfortable with reduced plastic use, according to ICIMOD.

Since January 2020, the Everest region, which has gained notoriety as the “world’s highest garbage dump”, imposed a ban on the use of plastic bags, bottles and other plastic items, citing their adverse effects on human health.

The use of plastic bags thinner than 30 microns has also been prohibited.

The Everest region has long struggled to manage the solid waste visitors to the region bring along every year.

On October 21, the Department of Tourism announced a ban on plastic bottles in four- and five-star deluxe and luxury hotels as a part of its push towards environmental sustainability.