Waste Management Analysis In HORECA

Source : Workee

The term waste management can be best explained as the process of collecting, processing, removing and disposing of material that is considered waste. Because waste management is important, I wanted to highlight what is being done in this area in HORECA industry in this blog (for those who are wondering, HORECA stands for Hotels/Restaurants/Cafe’s).

Why should one manage waste? Obvious answer is the environmental responsibility and legal obligation. However it is a proven fact that effective waste management saves businesses money.

Hotel and restaurant administrations make decisions on what waste management strategies should be employed based on the type of waste. Mainly there are two types of wastes produced in this industry:-

• Hazardous waste
• Non Hazardous waste

1) Hazardous waste

Examples of the waste are frying oil, mineral oil paint and solvent residues, flammable material (gas, petrol, etc.), chemicals (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides), cleaning chemicals, ink cartridge, etc.

2) Non Hazardous waste

Waste that doesn’t harm the environment like;

1. Food waste
2. Non-food waste e.g. used or dirty paper, plastic wrapping or bags, cardboard packaging paper, printed documents, menus, magazines, newspaper, plastic bags, bottles (that did not contain hazardous material), jars, food containers, glass bottles, etc.

Hazardous waste- reducing and managing hazardous waste.

Why manage the waste? The collection, treatment, and disposal of hazardous waste material is important because when improperly handled, it can cause substantial harm to public health and the environment.

How to reduce Hazardous waste:-

• Prevention — assess whether the hazardous product can be replaced with non toxic alternative
• Preparing for reuse — conserve for longevity
• Recycling — a lot of hazardous materials like batteries, ink cartridges etc can be recycled
• Disposal — hotels are legally responsible for the safe and correct disposal of hazardous waste.

Non Hazardous Waste

1. Food waste — reducing and managing food waste.

Why manage the waste? Every time food is wasted, the water, energy, time, manpower, land, fertiliser, fuel, packaging and money put into growing, preparing, storing, transporting, cooking the food is wasted.

How to reduce food waste?

• Prevention — understand where the food is being wasted and then make and action plan. E.g. Review stock management and delivery process to reduce out of date food wastage, use frozen, pre-prepared and dried ingredients, offer different portion sizes
• Preparing for reuse — share food with staff or donate excess food
• Recycling (including composting) — composite recycling where ever possible
• Other recovery (including energy recovery) — biofuel
• Disposal

2. Non hazardous non food waste- reducing and managing food waste.

Why manage the waste? Wasted paper, clothes, cans and jars are all a waste of resources and money.

How to reduce non food waste?

• Prevention — e.g. minimize newspaper distribution, switch to disposable toiletries, reusable coffee filters, filtered water instead of bottled water etc.
• Preparing for reuse — donate old clothes, towels, etc
• Recycling (including composting) — 60% of the rubbish that ends up in the dustbin can be recycled
• Disposal

Business usually hire waste contractors for effective waste management as it is cost effective way of managing waste. We saw that there are different sources and ways of waste management. Effective waste management conserve resources, protects environment and save money.