Food Waste Management in Coastal Hotels in Tanzania

This paper intends to present an overview of current practice in food waste management and problem associated with improper waste Management. Hotels industry in Tanzania, in recent years, has been a major consistent force behind the tremendous growth in GDP. However, hotels are major consumers of resources hence contribute heavily towards the waste generation, as compared to others. The New trend of Go green strategies like recycling or convert waste in another economical way can provide a great benefit to hotel industry not only in Coastal hotels but the country at large. While there has been some research on environment sustainability in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry in Tanzania and elsewhere, the issue of food waste Management in Coastal Hotels has not identified the best Practice in food waste management. Presently, there are improper waste management practices in Hotel industry. The main objective of the study was to identify opportunities and challenges of food waste management in coastal hotels in Tanzania. The research used both qualitative and quantitative methods whereas data were analyzed by statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), data collection was done through interviews and structured questionnaires. Interviews involved Coastal hotels from three different locations namely Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Tanga regions in Tanzania with a sample of 100 respondents. The findings in this research are optimistic to address the proper management of food waste which can lead to higher profitability for hotel and save environmental pollution. Lastly the researcher recommended for the Government, hotel stakeholders and individuals as a whole to be more creative and innovative to come up with different methodologies on how they can change these food waste challenges to be opportunities so as to reduce and manage waste for the conducing environment. Introduction Solid Waste Management is among of the most economic and environmental challenges in Tanzania. It is estimated that the quantity of Municipal Solid Waste generated countrywide amounts to more than 10,000 tons per day (NESR, 2017). The situation is aggravated by rapid growth of population. The estimated 2019 population of Tanzania is 58.01 million, up from the 2014 estimate of 50.8 million, ranking 25th in the world (World Population Review, 2019). There is a tremendous growth of population in urban than rural areas, many people move to urban area because they attracted by various economic activities thus making urban environment most International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 9 , No. 11, November, 2019, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2019 HRMARS privileged for investment and employment. This increase of population also attracts many to invest in hotel and tourism sector. It is estimated that over 219,000 people derive their livelihoods and earnings from tourism related activities as opposed to primary products (Bergqvist, 2006). WTTC indicates that the direct contribution of Travel & Tourism in Tanzania to GDP in 2016 was TZS 4,585.5 billion (4.7% of GDP). This is forecast to rise by 3.7% to TZS 4,755.2 billion in 2017. This primarily reflects the economic activity generated by industries such as hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services (excluding commuter services). But it also includes the activities of the restaurant and leisure industries directly supported by tourists. The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP is expected to grow by 6.8% per annum to TZS 9,192.3 billion (4.7% of GDP) by 2027. Although hotels do not create huge amount of wastes and consume huge amount of resources individually, collectively they cause substantial impacts on the environment. It has been estimated that 75% of hotels’ environmental impacts are directly associated with excessive consumption. This is wasteful in terms of resources and it increases operational costs unnecessarily. It is economically beneficial for hotels to pursue “green practices” in three areas, namely energy saving, water conservation, recycling and waste management. Public awareness of environmental issues is growing around the world, and the environmental profile of a hotel or a restaurant forms an increasingly important part of its overall reputation. Since colonial era, solid waste management in urban areas has been regarded as a public goods and services where by the Government has the duty to provide the Solid Waste Management services. In order to handle this government formed different legislations for the service of managing waste. The Environment Management Act (EMA) of 2004 is the umbrella law on environment management in Tanzania. Section 114 (1), 118 and 119 of the Act stipulates the duty of local government authorities in managing and minimizing solid waste. It provides for the existence of the National Environment Management Council (NEMC). Other legislations governing municipal solid waste management includes; Environment (Solid Waste Management) Regulations, of 2009; which applies to all matters pertaining to Solid waste and the Environment Management (Hazardous Waste Control) Regulations of 2009 which applies to all categories of hazardous wastes, including e-waste for which currently there is no specific policy/regulations. However, due to rapid urban growth coupled with scarcity of funds, many urban authorities are facing and reluctance of the urban dwellers to pay for the services represents a phenomenal challenges. This paper is therefore intended to present an overview of current practices in food waste management and problem associated with improper waste Management. While there has been some research on environment sustainability in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry in Tanzania and elsewhere, the issue of food waste Management in coastal hotels has not identified the best practice in food waste management. Presently, there are improper waste management practices in Hotel industry. Literature Review Concept of Waste and Food Waste Waste as it was defined by Michael-Agwuoke (2012) is a residual material which is as a results of human activities which cannot be re used or recovered as a source, recycled into material International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 9 , No. 11, November, 2019, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2019 HRMARS production processes. (OECD, 2003), (UN Statistics Division, 2011) defined waste as materials that are not prime products (that is, products produced for the market) for which the generator has no further use in terms of his/ her own purpose of production, transformations or consumption and of which he/she wants to dispose. Waste can be characterized in different forms. Some common characteristics used in the classification of waste includes the physical states, physical properties, reusable potentials, biodegradable potentials, source of production and the degree of environmental impact (Demirbas, 2011; Dixon & Jones, 2005; White et al., 1995). White et al. (1995) stated that waste can be classified broadly into three main types according to their physical states; these are liquid, solid and gaseous waste. Solid waste is that wastes produced by human activities, and can be in a solid or semisolid form and are thrown away as useless products (Tchobanoglous, et al. 1993). Basu (2010) argued that, solid waste includes municipal waste, some biomedical waste, electronic waste and some hazardous waste. Basu stated that solid waste could be putrescible and non-putrescible. Similarly, Kaseva & Gupta (1996) noted that solid wastes are waste materials from municipal, industrial and agricultural activities. Tchobanoglous et al. (1993) concluded that unlike other wastes, solid wastes do not disappear easily. They argued that, where solid waste is thrown today is where they will still be found in future. Dixon & Jones (2005) reported that, the compositions of municipal solid include materials such as soil, garden and food waste, wood, paper, ashes, plastics, textiles and rubber. They concluded that, municipal solid wastes area collection of wastes that are mainly from household and commercial sources. Similarly, Buah et al. (2007) added that, Municipal Solid Waste mainly consist of food and garden waste, textiles, paper or cardboard, plastics, glass and metals. They argued that, due to the composition of Municipal Solid Waste, the waste could easily be used for energy recovery or the production of fuel. Commercial solid wastes are solid or semi-solid wastes produced as a result of activities in stores, restaurants, markets, offices, hotels, motels, print shops, service stations, auto repair shops among others (Tchobanoglous, 1993). Due to the limited scope of the research study, other forms of wastes are excluded. Only food waste will be discussed in detail leaving the open room for further researches to be conducted concerning other forms of wastes. Food waste is defined as organic waste that has its origin in food, or in inputs into food production (Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign, 2013). Food that is disposed of as waste can be divided into: (1) avoidable/edible food waste, such as slices of bread, cooked vegetables, or salads, or any kind of food that at some point was edible before disposal (Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign, 2013); and (2) unavoidable food waste, which is the food that is non edible from preparation to consumption, such as egg shells or bones (Bruns-Smith et al., 2015). Food waste can be categorized into two groups; before it is consumed (pre-consumer food waste) which is the food waste produced from food leftovers and food which is spoiled before preparation or the one which is rotten. The other type is food waste after consumption (post-consumer food waste) or sometimes is called plate waste, this is the food served to the guests that have not been eaten (food items left or discarded by the customers) (2016, in Cuglin, Petljak and Naletina