The impact of the public and private waste sector on solid waste management practices in small Welsh hotels

Landfill dominates Welsh solid waste management (SWM) strategies despite harmful impacts on the environment. Reducing solid waste for landfill is therefore an imperative. Although small hotels individually produce small quantities of solid waste, collectively the volume is significant with much going to landfill although the waste hierarchy offers more sustainable alternatives that small hotels could use. Small hotels are businesses and legally required to make appropriate arrangements for SWM - either through the public or private sector. Earlier research in Wales emphasises economic forces in motivating small hotels SWM practices. Welsh local authorities play a major role in SWM. They are more committed to sustainable SWM practices as they are under pressure to meet the recycling and composting targets in Wales' Waste Strategy 2002. The private sector also plays a significant role in SWM but is not under pressure to meet targets and is more concerned with waste collection and landfilling. Both the public and private sector are critical to offering more sustainable SWM strategies for small hotels. This paper explores the support available to small hotels for SWM. A qualitative approach is used to develop a rich picture of the issues being investigated. Semi-structured interviews with waste management officers and private waste companies within a Welsh local authority show that neither provides appropriate support to commercial businesses, particularly towards waste minimisation and composting. The research concludes a fundamental review of SWM practices is needed to offer more sustainable SWM strategies to small hotels.