Circular economy and sustainable strategies in the hospitality industry: Current trends and empirical implications

Abstract

The European Union has enacted several strategies to reach sustainability and tackle climate change. Among them, the New circular economy action plan and the Farm to Fork Strategy could represent for hotels, restaurants and resorts the leverage points towards sustainable and economic development. The present research, through a systematic and critical review of the current trends in the hospitality industry in Europe, explores and investigates 62 papers published in national and international journals. It fills in the gaps related to circular economy, farm to fork and sustainable resource and waste management empirical practices in the hospitality industry. It emerges that food waste, water and energy consumption have been the most topical concerns from 2011 to 2021, whereas ecosystems protection, rural and urban development need more care. As a common thread, consumers’ and operators’ awareness helps in translating economic into environmental benefits, whereas the development of life cycle inventory databases and dashboards to guide tourism must be implemented without delay.

Hospitality SMEs and the circular economy: strategies and practice post-COVID

“…publications in 2019 (6), 2020 (7), 2021 (9) and 2022 (14). A wider review by Bux and Amicarelli (2022) identified 62 publications. While their review discussed a range of circular economy issues in the literature, the three main areas of focus in the literature relate to food waste (13 articles), water consumption (9 articles) and energy consumption (7 articles).…”

“…The dates of publication underline that this research remains relatively recent, with the earliest publication a conference paper from 2014, with an increasing trend in the number of publications in 2019 (6), 2020 (7), 2021 (9) and 2022 (14). A wider review by Bux and Amicarelli (2022) identified 62 publications. While their review discussed a range of circular economy issues in the literature, the three main areas of focus in the literature relate to food waste (13 articles), water consumption (9 articles) and energy consumption (7 articles).…”

Integrated application of selected elements of sustainability, circular economy, bioeconomy, and environmental management system in guesthouses

“…The circular economy, whose principle lies in the alternative reuse, recycling, and recovery of materials (Saidani et al 2018), is an integral part of sustainable development (Brais Suárez-Eiroa et al 2019;Corona et al 2019;Dantas et al 2021) and represents one of the possible ways to ensure a sustainable business in the hospitality sector (Jones and Wynn 2019;Rodríguez Antón and Alonso Almeida 2019). Bux and Amicarelli (2022) state that research in hotels have been mainly interested in food waste, water and energy consumption, and operators' and consumers' perceptions. These indicators were the most topical concerns from 2011 to 2021, whereas ecosystems protection, rural development, and urban development need more care.…”

Otel İşletmeciliğinde Yalın İlkelerin 14001:2015 Çevre Yönetim Sistemine Entegrasyonu

“…Avrupa'daki konaklama endüstrisindeki mevcut eğilimlerin sistematik ve eleştirel bir incelemesini içeren bir araştırmada, 2011'den 2021'e kadar gıda atıkları, su ve enerji tüketiminin en güncel konular olarak öne çıktığı; ekosistemlerin korunmasına, kırsal ve kentsel gelişime daha fazla özen gösterilmesi gerektiği ifade edilmiştir (Bux ve Amicarelli, 2022). Ayrıca, her ne kadar tüketicilerin ve operatörlerin farkındalığı, ekonomik faydaların çevresel faydalara çevrilmesine yardımcı olsa da, ekolojik geçişin başarısını niceliksel veya niteliksel bir bakış açısıyla ölçmenin homojen ve standartlaştırılmış bir yolu hâlâ eksiktir.…”

“…Ayrıca, her ne kadar tüketicilerin ve operatörlerin farkındalığı, ekonomik faydaların çevresel faydalara çevrilmesine yardımcı olsa da, ekolojik geçişin başarısını niceliksel veya niteliksel bir bakış açısıyla ölçmenin homojen ve standartlaştırılmış bir yolu hâlâ eksiktir. Turizm araştırmalarında su veya karbon ayak izi gibi birkaç çevresel gösterge örneği, su veya enerji tüketimi ile ilgili makalelerde yer alırken, gıda atığına ilişkin çevresel ve finansal göstergelerin gecikmeden geliştirilmesine ihtiyaç vardır (Bux ve Amicarelli, 2022). Diğer taraftan, sözü edilen çevresel sorunlar, dünya çapında otelciler ve yöneticileri için önemli bir ilgi noktası haline gelmiştir.…”