Evaluating localized conceptions and embedded applications of the Food Waste Hierarchy in luxury hotels

The Food Waste Hierarchy is a prescriptive framework advocating the use of waste prevention and reuse strategies above less sustainable ones such as recycling, recovery, and disposal. However, its adoption and effective deployment in the tourism and hospitality sector remain questionable. This paper examines hospitality workers’ conceptions and applications of waste hierarchy principles within the context of routine operations to assess the implications of embedded organizational practices for the adoption of optimal approaches. Primary data were collected through documentary analysis, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews at luxury hotels. The data suggest that the Food Waste Hierarchy is not fully understood. Consequently, choices that do not help to maximize environmental benefits are often adopted. Furthermore, various levels of the hierarchy potentially conflict and undermine the implementation of other options. The findings stress that, although the general principles of the waste hierarchy clearly have merits, the application of this framework within tourism and hospitality is likely to be limited by several contextual factors. These factors shape employees’ behaviours and guide organizational routines in hotels that shape the prevention and effective management of food waste.