Abstract
Ph.D. (Operations Management)
This study unravels the environmental effects of waste management in the hospitality industry from a holistic view. The overall purpose of the study was to scrutinise and establish the challenges faced by the hospitality industry regarding wastage in its establishments and the effects of waste on the environment of these establishments. The secondary purpose was to examine the current waste management solutions in the industry and assess their effectiveness as solutions to the current environmental quandary faced by the industry. Waste management initiatives have emerged in the hospitality industry due to environment dilapidation not only in South Africa but in the world at large. Waste management has been a global challenge, as this is the main contributor to global warming. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 samples from the population by collecting quantitative data using a close-ended questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to draw the correlations amongst variables and presented in the form of mono-variate and bivariate through simple frequency table and cross-tabulations. The findings of the study revealed that there is poor waste management in the hospitality industry resulting in negative environmental effects. These findings are substantiated by the poor training interventions and programmes by management to employees thus causing lack of knowledge and skills in ways of effectively managing waste, to ensure environmentally friendly practices, conservation and sustainability, greening practices and wastage in the hospitality industry. It is thus recommended that policy in waste management routine procedures should be added to employee daily processes. Workshops and training sessions should also be conducted in hospitality industry establishments on a continuous basis to keep management and staff informed and educated about the effective management of wastage.