Food waste in tourism

Hospitality and food services sector

Types of food losses/waste
 Food waste in the hotel industry

There are several factors and situation variables that influence the production of food waste in gourmet
kitchens.

Menu planning requires not only estimates of food demand in terms of the number of guests, but also an
accurate inventory of products and precise organization and arrangement of ingredients for food preparation.
Food waste tracking systems that support gastronomic kitchens to quantify food waste are offered by
enterprises from the United States such as Leanpath or Europe such as Winnow Solutions, Kitro,
eSmiley, Matomatic and Visma.
 Food waste management practices in restaurants and hotels

Combating food waste is a priority on the

European political agenda, as well as on the
agenda of the European hospitality industry. To
support the 1.8 million companies active in the
hospitality industry in the European Union, the
Professional Association of Hotels, Restaurants
and Cafes of the European Union (HOTREC), in
partnership with the European Federation of Food
Banks (FEBA) and with the support Metro Cash &
Carry, has produced a brochure with concrete
recommendations for units in the hospitality
industry, in order to reduce food waste.

The advice is intended to help, in particular,

units in the hospitality industry of any size to
reduce the amount of food waste, through a
set of simple and easy to follow
recommendations.
Island of Tenerife: the contribution of tourism to municipal solid waste generation

With over 16 million tourist arrivals and 104.3 million overnight stays
in 2017 distributed among seven islands (Tenerife, El Hierro,
Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, Lanzarote, La Palma), the
Canary Islands have become the top tourism region in the EU
(Eurostat, 2018).

However, global waste production far exceeds the 1.2 million tonnes
reached in 2015 and ends up mainly in landfills on islands.

The generation of waste per capita in the Canary Islands in 2015

was 594.1 kg per capita, well above the Spanish national average
(466 kg per capita).

The island has a well-established waste network, which obliges all

municipalities to operate under the same regulatory conditions.

All municipal waste streams collected are transported to one of four

transfer stations located on the island or directly to the island’s waste
treatment facilities.
 Per capita MW collected by municipality on Tenerife in 2015 (kg/inhabitant).
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956053X19307202#fn21