Because restaurants (as a division of the hospitality sector) contribute to the generation of commercial and institutional waste, thus representing both a challenge and an opportunity, the objective of the present study was to deepen the knowledge of restaurant waste in terms of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of waste generation and the performance achievable by the implementation of a separate collection scheme. In this study, the generated waste was characterized and the implemented separate collection was evaluated at a relevant case study restaurant in a coastal tourist area of Central Italy (Marche Region, Adriatic Sea side). The case study restaurant can be categorized as fast casual restaurant. This type of restaurants is a quality variant of quick (or limited) service restaurants, generally characterized by higher quality of food, service, and atmosphere and by higher or even complete eat-in ratios compared to the traditional variant of fast food restaurants. This study was based on a continuous monitoring period of 164 days at the case study restaurant, which was significantly longer than the survey times limited to a few days or weeks generally used for previous studies or reports. The qualitative (compositional) characterization of the generated total restaurant waste showed the considerable incidences of, in decreasing order, food (28.2%), glass (22.6%), paper/cardboard (19.1%), and plastic (17.1%). The quantitative (parametric) characterization of the generated restaurant waste determined the unit generation values of total waste and individual fractions based on the traditional employee and restaurant area parameters and the peculiar meal parameter. The evaluation of the monthly variation of the monitored separate collection, ranging from an higher level of 52.7% to a lower level of 41.4%, indicated the following: a reduction in the separate collection level can be expected at times of high working pressure or the closing of a seasonal business (typical for restaurants in tourist areas); and the monthly variation of the separate collection level is inversely correlated with that of the unit generation of total waste per meal. Finally, the original concept of the “customer equivalent person (Pce)” was introduced and behaviorally evaluated at the case study restaurant in terms of food waste generation and landfilling of biodegradable waste.
CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION OF THE GENERATION AND SEPARATE COLLECTION OF RESTAURANT WASTE: A CASE STUDY IN CENTRAL ITALY
TATANO, FABIO;
2017
Abstract
Because restaurants (as a division of the hospitality sector) contribute to the generation of commercial and institutional waste, thus representing both a challenge and an opportunity, the objective of the present study was to deepen the knowledge of restaurant waste in terms of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of waste generation and the performance achievable by the implementation of a separate collection scheme. In this study, the generated waste was characterized and the implemented separate collection was evaluated at a relevant case study restaurant in a coastal tourist area of Central Italy (Marche Region, Adriatic Sea side). The case study restaurant can be categorized as fast casual restaurant. This type of restaurants is a quality variant of quick (or limited) service restaurants, generally characterized by higher quality of food, service, and atmosphere and by higher or even complete eat-in ratios compared to the traditional variant of fast food restaurants. This study was based on a continuous monitoring period of 164 days at the case study restaurant, which was significantly longer than the survey times limited to a few days or weeks generally used for previous studies or reports. The qualitative (compositional) characterization of the generated total restaurant waste showed the considerable incidences of, in decreasing order, food (28.2%), glass (22.6%), paper/cardboard (19.1%), and plastic (17.1%). The quantitative (parametric) characterization of the generated restaurant waste determined the unit generation values of total waste and individual fractions based on the traditional employee and restaurant area parameters and the peculiar meal parameter. The evaluation of the monthly variation of the monitored separate collection, ranging from an higher level of 52.7% to a lower level of 41.4%, indicated the following: a reduction in the separate collection level can be expected at times of high working pressure or the closing of a seasonal business (typical for restaurants in tourist areas); and the monthly variation of the separate collection level is inversely correlated with that of the unit generation of total waste per meal. Finally, the original concept of the “customer equivalent person (Pce)” was introduced and behaviorally evaluated at the case study restaurant in terms of food waste generation and landfilling of biodegradable waste.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
