ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the impacts of waste on the environment. It explores the reasons behind the growth, cost and management of municipal waste, the challenges related to food waste and a circular approach to managing resources in hospitality. The chapter defines waste and categorize the types of waste produced in hospitality. It analyses the waste composition and related costs in hospitality. The chapter categorizes food waste produced in hospitality. It identifies ways to reduce and treat food waste and provides the principles of eco-procurement as a way to minimize waste. In rich and poor countries alike, the authorities are increasingly inclined to entrust waste management to the private sector. Waste firms see rich pickings all over the planet as municipalities realize the difficulties in coping with ever stricter waste regulations. The hotel and restaurant industries are “major contributors to packaging waste, including plastics and metals with high embodied energy that are responsible for significant resource depletion upon disposal”.
