Decision Factors That Influence Hospital Foodservice Director's to Implement a Waste Management Program

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME: To identify, as perceived by hospital foodservice directors, the decision factors that influence the implementation of waste management programs.Economic, environmental, social and political influences are making the management of solid waste or garbage an important issue for all foodservice directors, including those in health care facilities. The study objectives were to: (1) identify what components of integrated waste management programs were being used in hospital foodservice facilities in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, (2) identify decision making factors for implementing or not implementing components of a solid waste management (SWM) program, (3) determine which of the decision factors were perceived to be the greatest barriers to implementing a SWM program, and (4) determine if demographic characteristics influenced the foodservice director's decision regarding SWM. A survey was sent to all (n=199) hospital foodservice directors in the three state region. Of the 164 returned surveys, 75% of the directors reported they had recycling programs, 51% participated in source reduction and 6% used incineration. Foodservice labor, space to store recyclables, corporate support, monetary return and the director's personal feelings were identified as decision factors (Likelihood ratio Chi-square significance p=<.05) Space to store recyclables and foodservice labor were considered the greatest barriers to recycling. Larger hospitals recycled more often and contracted foodservice operations participated more in source reduction. Identifying the decision factors could provide guidance to other directors as to the critical factors that should be considered when attempting to implement a successful SWM program and perhaps solutions could be developed to overcome or lessen the effects of the barriers.