An environmental impact assessment of restaurant operation: A case study of RM Restaurant in Garut, Indonesia

Abstract

Food is one of the basic human needs. The availability of restaurants is very essential to support human life. In addition, the existence of restaurants in Garut Regency, which is one of the favourite tourist destinations in West Java, benefits local residents due to the opportunity for working and increasing the original local government revenue. A sustainable restaurant operation should be achieved regarding the impact of restaurant activities on the environment. The objectives of the study were to assess the impact of RM Restaurant on the environment and develop environmental management and monitoring. This research was a descriptive quantitative and qualitative research. The quantitative analysis aimed to analyse land use, surface water quality, water usage, and solid waste generation. The descriptive qualitative analysis was performed to come up with suggestions for environmental management and monitoring. This research was conducted in January-March 2022 during the operation of RM Restaurant, so the impact assessment was based on the observation, existing data, and laboratory data. The results show the environmental impact of RM Restaurant operation including land use change, decrease in surface water quality, and solid waste generation. We recommend environmental management including maintaining green open space, providing the wastewater treatment plant, and solid waste management. Environmental monitoring should be applied by measuring the land use according to Garut Regency Regulation Number 29 of 2011, monitoring the quality of surface water according to Indonesian Government Regulation No 22 of 2021, and monitoring solid waste generation.