Illinois bans mini shampoo bottles in hotel rooms

Tiny hotel toiletries will soon be outlawed in Illinois. A new law will make Illinois hotels ditch small plastic bottles for shampoo and other care products.

The days are numbered for small shampoo bottles in Illinois hotels because of a new law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Hotels with more than 50 rooms are banned from providing single-use plastic bottles of shampoo, mouthwash and other toiletries starting July 1, 2025.

If a hotel has less than 50 rooms, the law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026. Hotels will then be expected to transition to refillable containers or face a written warning followed by a fine of up to $1,500.

Washington, New York and California have enacted similar laws. The Illinois General Assembly previously had a bill that would have banned the use of Styrofoam containers, but a partial ban passed instead that applies only to state facilities and agencies.

Illinois has more than $142 billion in pension debt, the nation’s second-worst unemployment rate, second-highest corporate income tax rate, second-highest property taxes and fourth highest in-state tuition for public universities. Those major problems have festered for years without state lawmakers finding the political will to fix them.

But when it comes to the plastic perils found in hotel bathrooms, Illinois’ political leaders are shiny and manageable.