Abstract
This study examined the solid waste generation and recycling potential of the hotel sector in Hue City, Vietnam. The authors conducted waste measurement, waste composition, and questionnaire surveys for 45 target hotels over ten consecutive days. The waste generation rates (WGRs) by rooms, beds, guests, and workers were assessed by hotel class using the following three waste categories, considering informal waste collection: general waste (GW), separated recyclables (SRe), and separated food residue (SFR). The 5-star hotels exhibited the highest WGR per room at 1.61 kg/room/day, while 1-star hotels exhibited the lowest per-room WGR (0.39 kg/room/day). Spearman Rank correlation test revealed that hotel class and per-room, per-bed, and per-guest WGRs were significantly positively correlated (p < 0.01). The major components of GW were food waste (40.9% to 57.4%), paper (10.1% to 20.3%), and plastic (10.7% to 15.5%). The recycling and composting potentials remaining in the GW were 19.3% to 38.5% and 38.0% to 57.9%, respectively. Based on the WGRs and waste composition determined in this study, the estimated total amount of waste generated was 6.88 tons/day (6.26 to 7.62 tons/day, 95% CI), of which 4.37 (64%), 2.13 (31%), and 0.38 tons/day (6%) were GW, SFR, and SRe, respectively. The recycling and composting potentials remaining in GW were 0.94 (13%) and 2.57 tons/day (37%), respectively. High-class hotels should be considered as the highest priority targets for a “reduce, reuse, recycle” (3R) promotion campaign in the future, with estimated recycling and composting potentials of 0.27 (4%) and 1.10 tons/day (16%), respectively.
Highlights
Rapid urbanization, economic growth, and changing lifestyles have drastically increased the amount and variety of municipal solid waste (MSW) in developing countries [1]
All 3- to 5-star hotels separated recyclables and food residue, while the waste separation rates of guest house (GH) and 1-star hotels were lower. This tendency seems to be consistent with that found in a study on the hotel sector in Cairo, Egypt, which reported that high-class hotels successfully sorted waste at its source [29]
The waste generation rates (WGRs) were categorized considering the amount of waste collected by informal
Summary
Economic growth, and changing lifestyles have drastically increased the amount and variety of municipal solid waste (MSW) in developing countries [1]. According to Vietnam’s national strategy on the management of waste and discarded material issued in 2015 There are few official waste separation practices in Vietnam, and recycling activities are mainly conducted by the informal sector, for example, food waste collection by livestock breeders or recyclable material collection by waste pickers and junk-buyers [7] [8] [9]. Municipalities in Vietnam need to establish a MSW management system that considers public health, the efficient use of organic and recyclable waste, and recycling activities by the informal sector. It is important to understand the amount of waste generated; the waste composition, including the recycling potential of organic and recyclable materials; the waste stream, including informal sectors; and the contribution by each source as a scientific basis to establish a MSW management system and advance towards a sustainable society [11] [12]
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