Drivers and Solutions for Food Waste in the Restoration Sector: A Case Study

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine the main drivers of food waste in restaurants, the main tools used by the sector to reduce waste and to forward a number of solutions to waste generation. The paper uses a case study in a municipality of Madrid, Spain, where a number of restaurants’ managers were interviewed. The work collects information on how restaurants manage waste, investigate what are the perceptions and attitudes of managers, and determine what kind of solutions could be put in place to reduce in the restauration sector. Findings show that although restaurant managers are aware of the footprint that food waste create, excuses for inaction —going from putting the blame on clients or the space of their premises— were commonly used in the restaurants analysed for this research.