Food waste management in five-star hotel operations: a Sydney case study

Abstract

Food waste (FW) continues to attract policy and industry attention, yet luxury hotels remain settings where large volumes of food are routinely discarded. Five-star hotel properties rely on generous, visually striking food displays and strict quality expectations, even as they operate under increasing pressure to divert organic wastes and demonstrate sustainable practices. In Australia, national and state commitments to halve FW by 2030 have intensified this focus. Still, much of the existing research rests on audits, technological interventions or broad attitude surveys. It offers limited insight into how FW is created in the day-to-day rhythm of hotel service and how staff work within “always full” presentation expectations while trying to avoid unnecessary waste.

This thesis addresses this gap by examining how FW is generated, handled and reduced at a five-star hotel in Sydney. It analyses the ways in which operational routines, organisational expectations and value chain conditions interact to influence staff decision-making. FW in hotels is frequently framed as a consequence of inadequate planning or a lack of awareness. However, this study shows that chefs, managers and frontline staff are generally attentive to waste. What limits their ability to act are the established systems, service norms and operational pressures that restrict opportunities for waste-reducing decisions during active service. To explain these patterns, this thesis draws on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to interpret how staff attitudes, perceived norms and perceived behavioural control (PBC) shape intentions, and uses this lens to clarify why strong intentions often fail to translate into action under real service conditions.

The findings demonstrate that FW in the case hotel is a systemic outcome of a small number of recurring operational and organisational patterns. Internally, gaps in handover, fragmented communication about dietaries and allergens and equipment oriented towards volume rather than flexibility encourage over-production, duplicate preparation and the discarding of food when its status is unclear. Norms that are closely tied to the hotel’s luxury identity, particularly the insistence on full displays and flawless presentation, regularly overshadow individual efforts to minimise waste. Externally, supplier arrangements, such as pack sizes, order quantities and delivery timing together with contractor requirements on separation and contamination, shape the degree of control staff have over waste. These influences are often not immediately visible to staff during fast-paced service.

Date of Thesis submission	2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Supervisor	Garth Lean (Supervisor) & Julie Wen (Supervisor)