Waste management in the lodging sector follows the waste hierarchy: the priority is prevention, followed by reuse, recycling and, as a final step, responsible disposal. By addressing waste structurally, a lodging establishment reduces its carbon footprint and operational costs.
1. Our Objectives: What do we want to achieve?
- Waste Prevention: preventing waste through conscious purchasing and eliminating single-use products.
- Maximum Recycling: Ensuring that residual waste is minimized through strict source separation.
- Elimination of Single-Use Plastics: Completely phasing out single-use plastic items such as straws, cups and individual containers.
- Reducing Food Waste: Implementing a plan to minimize food surpluses in the kitchen and at the buffet.
2. Measuring is Knowing
Without data, it is impossible to set targeted reduction goals.
- Recording: The total amount of waste is best recorded monthly, preferably by waste fraction.
- Units: Waste is measured in kilograms (kg) or tons and normalized to kg per guest night to identify trends.
- Monitoring: Specific attention is paid to large streams such as food waste, textiles and packaging materials.
3. Practical Methods and Resources.
Prevention and Procurement
- Disposable items: Do not use disposable dishes or cutlery except for safety reasons (e.g., at the pool).
- Dispensers: Replace individual soaps and shampoo bottles with refillable dispensers in all bathrooms.
- Packaging: Limit monopacks at breakfast (such as sugar, jam or butter) to an absolute minimum (no more than 5 kinds).
- Suppliers: Make arrangements for reusable transport packaging (such as crates) to be returned to the supplier.
Sorting and Recycling
- Fractions: Sort waste into at least three fractions in accordance with legislation (e.g., paper/cardboard, glass, PMD); residual waste does not count as a fraction for this purpose.
- Infrastructure: Provide clear sorting bins in both staff areas and public areas.
- Instructions: Use simple pictograms or illustrations at waste receptacles to prevent mis-sorting by guests.
Food and Organic Waste
- Composting: Process organic waste (GFT) on site or have it collected for biogas production….
- Food waste: Adjust portion sizes, use smaller plates at buffets and work with an “a la carte” system to reduce surpluses.
4. The Financial Impact
- Lower Disposal Costs: In most regions, the disposal of sorted waste is cheaper than that of unsorted residual waste.
- Purchasing advantage: Bulk purchasing for dispensers and avoiding individually packaged products lowers the unit price of consumables.
- Efficiency:
- Digital administration saves significantly on paper and printing costs.
- Dispensers reduce operational costs in room maintenance
5. Planetary Frontiers and Social Impact.
Your waste policy contributes to the bigger picture:
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- UN SDGs: Direct contribution to SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and production), SDG 14 (Living in water – reducing plastic soup) and SDG 15 (Living on land).
- Planetary Boundaries: Waste management limits the introduction of new entities (such as microplastics and chemical pollutants) into the biosphere.
- Social Minimum Limits: Contributes to local public health by preventing pollution of the immediate environment.
6. More Information & Tools
- Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Criteria.
- Green Key Belgium – Criteria & Explanation.
- EU Ecolabel for Tourist Accommodation
- Better sorting
This guide is a living document. By working with local partners and sharing experiences, we are building journeys to tomorrow together.
Collective intelligence, stronger than artificial intelligence !
