Tui Group has a new commitment to remove 250 million single-use plastic items in its hotels, cruise ships, airlines and offices by the end of 2020.
The holiday giant has already reached the target of 140 million pieces by the end of 2018.
The new commitment is outlined in its latest sustainability report, which details the tourism group’s environmental achievements in 2018.
Plastic straws were the item most commonly removed or replaced with a non-plastic alternative in Tui hotels last year, with about 60% reporting that they no longer provide plastic straws.
Hotels also introduced measures to reduce or replace plastic cups, cutlery, stirrers, bottles, bags, bathroom amenities and packaging, contributing to the removal of 112 million pieces of single-use plastic.
Tui Cruises introduced a ‘wasteless’ plastic reduction programme in 2018, which has seen changes such as the use of jugs to fill at water dispensers – avoiding the need for plastic bottles – and refillable shampoo and gel dispensers in showers.
The report highlights how Tui has delivered 29 million ‘greener and fairer’ holidays since 2015 – measured by the number of customers in hotels with sustainability certification recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
In 2018, it had 9.2 million ‘greener and fairer’ holidays – a 12% increase year-on-year.
TUI’s airlines again earned top ranking in the 2018 Airline Index from the independent climate protection organisation atmosfair, which compares the carbon efficiency of the world’s 200 largest airlines.
Tui Airways in the UK won first place in the atmosfair ranking for the second consecutive year and Tui fly Germany was in fourth place.
Investing in new, more fuel-efficient cruise ships means that carbon emissions per cruise passenger night by have fallen by almost 12% between 2015 and 2018.