Drivers of food waste generation and best practice towards sustainable food waste management in the hotel sector: A systematic review
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1-2022
Abstract
The growing volumes of food globally are lost or wasted along the entire food chain. However, a high effort in investigating why food waste (FW) occurs remains scattered for each subsector in detail, particularly in the hotel sector. Therefore, this systematic review focuses on FW issues in the hotel sector to identify FW generation drivers and good business practices towards mitigating FW. The review compiled literature from 25 related studies and adopted the PRISMA statement, utilising two leading journal databases: Scopus and Web of Science. This review shows that hoteliers initially feel guilty about wasting food, primarily based on financial loss rather than concerns about the social and environmental footprint. Based on the review, hotel staff from various internal departments faced conflicts between good intentions with reducing FW and the guests' unsustainable food consumption patterns. Within the scope of this review, we suggest that further research is necessary with a focus on procedures and regulations (hotel policy) to encourage guests to minimise plate waste and redistribute unsold hotel food to charities or food banks. Overall, this review offers some interesting guidelines and actionable inferences to reduce FW generation in the hotel sector.
Keywords
Hoteliers, Hotel management, Buffet leftover, Plate waste, Preparation of food, Serving food
Divisions
advanced
Funders
Zero Waste Movement in Urban Poor Community [Grant No: MRUN2019-2C],Vulnerability and Adaptation of Coastal Community Toward Climate Change [Grant No: TU001E-2018]
Publication Title
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Volume
29
Issue
32
Publisher
Springer Heidelberg
Publisher Location
TIERGARTENSTRASSE 17, D-69121 HEIDELBERG, GERMANY