Understanding waste management practices in the commercial food service sector

Abstract

Long working hours, the increased participation of women in the labour force, the growing middle class, as well as the convenience offered by restaurants have greatly accelerated the growth of the commercial food service sector across the world. This is also true for South Africa where eating outside of the home has become more prevalent. South African food consumption patterns show a rise in the consumption of food outside home while consumption of home cooked meals is decreasing. The expansion of the commercial food service sector comes with an increase in the amount of waste generated by the sector, adding to the high volumes of waste that municipalities are grappling with. Municipal efforts towards diversion of waste from landfill tend to focus more on household waste, while waste coming from restaurants receives less attention. As a result, most of the waste generated in restaurants is disposed at the landfills as mixed waste. The aim of the study was to understand waste management practices in the commercial food service sector to identify opportunities for waste reduction and recovery of resources through source separation. The study was conducted in twenty restaurants of two malls located in eThekwini metropolitan municipality. A triangulation approach, which involved the use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods in one study, was adopted to understand waste management practices in the commercial food service sector. A waste characterisation study was conducted to understand waste composition and generation rates of restaurants; observations were used to uncover waste management practices in the restaurants while semi-structured interviews were used to understand sources and reasons for waste generation. Based on the waste characterisation results, waste generation rates estimated indicate that 10.25 tonnes is generated by Mall1 restaurants and 9.41 tonnes by Mall2 restaurants annually. More than 74% of waste generated by the sampled restaurants can be recovered through recycling (paper, plastics, glass and tins) and composting/anaerobic digestion (food waste). Food waste accounted for close to 50% of restaurant waste that was sorted in both Mall1 and Mall2. Restaurant managers cited poor stock rotation, over-purchasing of stock, negligence from the staff members, placing wrong orders, preparation of excessive amount of food, dissatisfaction with the taste of food and people ordering more food than they can eat as the main reasons for food waste generation. The results also showed that restaurant waste cooking oil ranged between 500ml to 150 litres per week. Currently, waste from restaurants is handled by the same service provider contracted by the management of both shopping malls. Unsorted waste from the restaurants is collected and sorted for recycling while residual waste is taken for landfilling. The composition of waste and current waste management practices by restaurants in both malls highlight the need for improved waste management practices. With the expected growth in the restaurant industry, improved waste management practices at the source of generation, which appreciate waste as a resource and encourage diversion of waste away from landfill is required. This may include implementation of source separation schemes to enhance recycling and ensure diversion of clean recyclables. Waste prevention and reduction through reducing material wastage and green purchasing should be given greater priority as dictated by the waste hierarchy. Food waste can be reduced by providing training to restaurant staff members, procurement of food that is needed in the business, carefully checking ingredients during receiving of goods, practicing FIFO method, improving communication between staff member and customers during order taking, giving surplus food to staff members and also measuring food waste.