Responsible Sourcing Public Policies
Public policies at the state and local level continue to play an important role in advancing responsible sourcing across the hospitality industry. Many jurisdictions have already enacted—or are considering—policies related to areas such as animal welfare, plastics reduction, and chemical restrictions.
Hospitality companies and hotels are increasingly monitoring and adapting to these evolving requirements. While compliance can be complex, particularly across multiple jurisdictions, many organizations are already integrating policy tracking and regulatory alignment into their sourcing strategies.
Before further advancing a responsible sourcing strategy at the company or property level, it is important to review applicable state and local policies to ensure alignment and identify opportunities to go beyond compliance.
Many companies actively track public policies through internal teams, legal advisors, or third-party tools that monitor regulatory developments. In addition to ensuring compliance, this approach can help organizations stay ahead of emerging trends and position themselves as industry leaders.
Current public policies related to each of the 4 Priority Categories can be found on their respective pages.
EPR Highlight
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an emerging environmental policy approach in the United States where the producer of a product is held responsible for end-of-life management of their products. Producers can ensure proper end of life management by providing recycling, take-back programs, or other safe/responsible disposal options or by funding these types of activities through payment to Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs).
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws are in place or proposed in some states. EPR requirements vary for each state so hotels should ensure they are in compliance with specific aspects of the state’s EPR program.
Typically, businesses that are required to comply must register with the state’s designated PRO, also known as a Stewardship Organization (SO), track and report on the quantities of covered products they are distributing and pay designated fees to accommodate the disposal of these products via the PRO/SO. Covered products in hotels could include printing and writing paper (ex. branded guest pads, stationary, food service paper (ex. branded napkins, paper cups), take-out containers, beverage containers, amenity packaging).
Visit the Single-Use Products/Packaging page to learn more about the active and pending EPR laws that may impact the purchasing of single-use products/packaging.