Circular e food supply chain for achieving zero food waste goals: insights from Sri Lankan hotel industry

Abstract

As one of the largest food consuming industries in the world, the hotel industry makes a significant contribution to the global food waste generation. There is a significant impact for the sustainability in terms of food waste from the hotels. One of the major types of food waste generated in the hotel sector can be identified as “plate waste” which consists of edible foods, but not eaten by the guests. Similarly, in Sri Lanka, food waste can be identified as a growing problem due to rapid urbanization, and changes in lifestyles. The concept of circular economy has obtained world attention in reducing waste, hence adopting CE into food supply chain can be identified as an ideal way to achieve zero food waste goals of hotel industry. Since, a few studies have been specifically focused on investigating the application of CE concept in food supply chain in hotel industry, this research aimed to investigate the existing CE practices, and challenges faced when adopting CE into food supply chain of hotel industry in Sri Lanka. as the suitable research strategy, exploratory case study strategy was adopted in this research by investigating three selected hotels in Sri Lanka. Content analysis was used as a suitable data analysis technique. As derived through analysis, various insights from Sri Lanka hotel industry were derived and finally, a framework for CE transition of food supply chain for achieving zero food waste was developed. The developed framework provides important insights for CE transition in hotel industry to accelerate the existing waste management practices towards circularity. Hence, this research would be a key milestone for future research of transforming hotel industry towards circularity.