Integrated waste management framework: a business case from hospitality industry

Abstract

Environment sustainability in tourism industry is an upcoming area of research that can benefit from integrated approach to waste management. Recent developments in waste management of hospitality sector have experimented with different methods, but less attention has been paid to integrate it as a strategic opportunity in the greening of services. Also, literature from the developing world have contributed with prescriptive and empirical studies on environmental performance of organisations, but limited on-the-ground kind of studies to explore the practical and contextual aspects of implementing waste management as a part of organisational process. This research article is based on a case study conducted in two co-located Ecotel ® certified hotels in India and examines the role of waste management as a business strategy. The study has used inputs from extant literature and learning from the case study to propose integrated waste management framework as a business strategy and to shift it stand-alone backend practice, which can help the firms from hospitality sector develop waste management as a part of its competitive differentiator.