4 Things to Know About Reducing Waste in Hospitality 

Hotels, restaurants, event venues, and other hospitality businesses move a tremendous amount of food, beverages, and materials every day. That also gives them a significant opportunity to reduce what they send to disposal. 

The numbers illustrate the scale: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that the hospitality sector generated 18.3 million tons of wasted food in 2018. More than half of that material was sent to landfills. 

And food is only part of the picture; hospitality businesses also generate cardboard, paper, bottles and cans, food and beverage containers, and specialized materials such as mattresses and textiles. 

For businesses looking to reduce waste, here are four things to know. 

1. Food is a big part of the opportunity 

Food is one of the largest waste streams in hospitality, particularly for businesses with restaurants, catering, conferences, and other food service operations. 

EPA’s 2018 estimate found that restaurants and food services accounted for about 93% of wasted food generated across the hospitality sector. 

Businesses can look upstream for opportunities to prevent food from becoming waste in the first place, identify edible food to donate or redistribute, and divert unavoidable food scraps through options such as composting or anaerobic digestion. 

In Massachusetts, there’s also a regulatory reason to pay attention. The commercial food material disposal ban applies to businesses and institutions generating one-half ton or more of food waste per week. 

Fortunately, MassDEP’s RecyclingWorks MA program offers no-cost assistance to get started (get assistance).  

2. Waste reduction starts with understanding the material streams

Hospitality businesses have multiple waste streams to consider. A hotel, for example, will be managing food scraps from a kitchen, cardboard from deliveries, bottles and cans from guest areas, paper from offices, and specialized materials such as mattresses and textiles. 

While that variety might make waste reduction seem complicated, it actually offers multiple opportunities for diversion. 

A RecyclingWorks MA waste assessment helps a business understand what is thrown away, where those materials came from, and which ones can be prevented, recycled, reused, or diverted through another pathway. 

Understanding the actual waste streams makes it easier to focus resources where they can have the greatest impact. 

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3. The best programs fit into everyday operations

A recycling or wasted food management program is only effective if employees can use it consistently. 

For hospitality businesses, that means making collection systems straightforward, providing clear signage and training staff on what belongs in each bin. Having the right collection containers in the right areas is also essential.  

This is particularly important in an industry where employees may work across kitchens, guest rooms, event spaces, restaurants, and other areas of a facility. 

Good waste management should ultimately become part of how the business operates, rather than an extra task that employees must remember.

4. Reducing waste can reduce costs, too

Improving recycling and managing food material can reduce what is sent for disposal. RecyclingWorks MA notes that businesses implementing recycling and wasted food diversion programs can identify opportunities to reduce operational and disposal costs while also strengthening their environmental practices. 

Understanding what’s being discarded, identifying the biggest opportunities, and building systems that work for employees can help integrate waste reduction into practical everyday operations. 

Get support

RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts provides no-cost technical assistance to hospitality businesses looking to start or improve recycling, start donating surplus food, and divert food scraps. Our team can help businesses assess their waste streams, identify opportunities, develop programs, and train staff. 

Contact RecyclingWorks MA at 888-254-5525 or info@recyclingworksma.com to get support.