The Regulatory Shift Hospitality Can't Ignore and How B Corp Can Help You Prepare
In a recent conversation with Morgan Ræ for the Colectivo Podcast, we explored how incoming EU regulations are reshaping the future of hospitality, and where established sustainability frameworks can help brands get ahead of the curve.
Morgan is the founder of L'Eautelier, a marine-based design studio focused on hospitality, and her work sits at the intersection of eco-design, materials innovation and regulatory change. At Colectivo, this conversation felt especially relevant to the work we do with organisations navigating sustainability, regulation, culture change and B Corp certification. For many hospitality brands, the next few years will bring growing pressure to rethink packaging, amenities, sourcing, materials and waste.
The regulatory shift hospitality cannot ignore
A major focus of the conversation was the changing EU regulatory landscape, particularly around packaging, waste and product responsibility.
Morgan highlighted the importance of Extended Producer Responsibility and what it could mean for hotels, restaurants and hospitality brands with private-label products, branded amenities or imported goods.
As she explained:
"The next big milestone is August 12th, and that's when a few of the regulations go into place, especially the EPR, the Extended Producer Responsibility. And this is any kind of hotel or restaurant that has a private label. They now have to be responsible for their packaging and products, and they have to register in every single EU country that they're in and register a fee for their packaging. They have to be fully recyclable and be accountable for that. So this includes anything that's private label, branded amenities, any kind of own branded packaging, as well as anything that's imported from outside the EU. So if you think of all these things that are inside the hotel room, I mean, this is huge."
The implications are significant. Hospitality brands will need to understand not only what they place in the guest room, but where it comes from, how it is packaged, how it is used and what happens to it after use.
Morgan also pointed to a major upcoming shift in hotel amenities:
"And then going beyond that, January first, twenty thirty is huge. I mean, there's essentially a mini toiletries ban."
For a sector where small amenities have long been part of the expected guest experience, this creates a clear challenge. But it also creates a chance to rethink what hospitality can offer.
As Morgan put it:
"This will really shift the hospitality industry and something that we've grown to expect over the years. These little amenities that we love to get for free, but they're a huge issue right now. Actually making the hotels responsible for them and to design a circular path to them. I'm excited to be a part of this and to see how we can shift in a new way. I see it as a huge opportunity to rethink the hotel brand itself, to use biomaterials and uplift the guest experience."
This point is critical. Sustainability does not have to mean removing value from the guest experience. Done well, it can create a better, more distinctive and more responsible experience.
Where B Corp standards can help hospitality brands prepare
For many organisations, the regulatory landscape can feel overwhelming. Hospitality leaders are managing daily operations, customer expectations, supplier relationships, cost pressures and workforce challenges. Keeping up with evolving sustainability expectations can feel like yet another demand. This is where structured tools and standards can help.
At Colectivo, we support organisations through B Corp consultancy, helping them use the B Corp framework not only as a route to certification, but as a practical structure for improving sustainability performance across the business.
During the conversation, Laura connected Morgan's regulatory insights to the updated B Corp standards, particularly the impact topic of environmental stewardship and circularity.
"It's the product development and portfolio redesign space. So it's looking at how we can eliminate single-use items, how we can design for long-term use, how we can design for recirculation after use, and how we can design for recirculation at end of life. So in order to become a B Corp and to maintain B Corp status, you not only have to show that you have these different items in your agenda and you have plans to improve your performance, but you're also checked on a regular basis. Something like the B Corp structure could actually be really helpful for an organisation to get them prepared because all of the B Corp standards as well have been designed to be interoperable with other EU and global frameworks and regulations that are coming out."
This is especially relevant for hospitality brands because many of the questions raised by regulation are also questions raised by B Corp:
How are products designed?
How are materials sourced?
How is waste reduced?
How are suppliers selected?
How is progress measured?
How does the organisation move from intention to implementation?
The value of B Corp is that it gives organisations a structured way to understand where they are, identify gaps and build a roadmap for improvement. It also encourages progress over time, rather than one-off sustainability claims.
As Laura noted:
"For professionals who are in roles currently and who might be leading teams and who mightn't be in constant education about these things, it can seem a bit daunting, but there are resources, there are tools, there are things out there that can help us in the process."
For hospitality businesses facing packaging, waste and circularity requirements, B Corp can provide one of those tools.
Innovation adoption takes time
Of course, innovation does not happen evenly across the market.
In the conversation, Laura and Morgan discussed the adoption curve often seen in innovation. Some organisations are early adopters, eager to test new ideas, pilot materials and experiment with different partnerships. Others wait until there is a stronger business case, more market proof or a clearer regulatory push.
This is understandable. New materials often bring questions around cost, availability, durability, procurement and operational fit. But hospitality brands that wait too long may find themselves reacting under pressure rather than designing strategically.
The opportunity is to start small: pilot a material, rethink a product line, test a circular packaging solution, redesign an amenity experience, or map which items will be most affected by regulation.
This is where design thinking becomes practical. It allows organisations to move from overwhelm to experimentation.
The path forward
Hospitality is entering a period of significant change. Packaging regulation, product responsibility, circularity expectations and shifting customer values are all pushing the sector to rethink long-standing norms. But this should not only be understood as a risk. It is also a chance to redesign hospitality for a different future.
At Colectivo, we see this opportunity through our work with organisations on sustainability strategy, innovation and B Corp certification. The businesses that will be best prepared are not those that treat sustainability as a final checkbox, but those that integrate it into how they design, source, operate, measure and improve.
The future of hospitality will not be defined only by what brands remove. It will be defined by what they create in its place.
Key takeaways
Incoming EU regulation: including EPR from August 12th and the 2030 mini-toiletries ban, should be treated as a design prompt, not just an administrative burden.
B Corp standards can help hospitality organisations structure their sustainability work and prepare for future expectations, because they're built to be interoperable with EU and global frameworks.
Innovation adoption is uneven: early movers who pilot now will be better positioned than those who wait for the regulatory push.
This is the second of two posts drawing on our Colectivo Podcast conversation with Morgan Ræ. The first looks at how eco-design and marine-based materials are opening up new creative possibilities in hospitality.
