Food Waste Management in Five Star Hotel Operation: Sydney Case Study

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This research investigates food waste management (FWM) practices in five-star hotel operations, using Sydney, Australia, as a case study. The hospitality sector contributes significantly to global food waste, with hotels facing unique challenges in implementing sustainable practices. Despite growing awareness, gaps remain in understanding managerial attitudes, operational barriers, and stakeholder roles in FWM within luxury hotels. The study employs a qualitative case study approach, combining semi-structured interviews with hotel managers, staff, and supply chain stakeholders (e.g., suppliers, waste management companies), direct observations of food waste processes, and documentary analysis of policies and industry reports. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Social Practice Theory (SPT), the research examines psychological, social, and systemic drivers of FWM adoption. Key objectives: - Analyse how hotel operations and procedures influence FWM practices. - Explore the role of external stakeholders (e.g., suppliers, regulators) in shaping FWM. - Identify barriers (e.g., cost, knowledge gaps) and enablers (e.g., policy incentives, staff training) for sustainable FWM.Significance: The study addresses a critical gap in literature focused on luxury hotels, offering actionable insights to reduce economic losses (e.g., Australia’s $20B annual food waste cost) and environmental impacts (e.g., landfill emissions). Findings aim to inform industry best practices, policy frameworks, and cross-sector. - Collaboration for a more sustainable hospitality sector. Methodology: Data will be collected through 7-day observations at Radisson Blu Sydney, 30+ interviews, and analysis of public documents (e.g., NSW Circular Economy policies). Ethical protocols ensure participant anonymity, with thematic analysis via NVivo software. This dataset contains 34 interview audio recording data from one of the five star hotel in Sydney CBD with management, staff, Food service providers and waste management company for their perception of the food waste management in the daily operation This dataset contains the qualitative data collected for the PhD project examining FW practices in Sydney’s five star hotel kitchens. The dataset includes: Thirty five semi structured interview transcripts and original audio (Word files and audio file exports). Six non participant observation records (Word files). Two document analysis summaries (PDF and Word files). One coding framework from the interview developed during thematic analysis (Excel spreadsheet and word file). One NVivo project file containing coded transcripts, nodes and memos. (Excel sheet) The dataset captures behavioural, operational and organisational factors contributing to FW in luxury hotel kitchen environments. This dataset cannot be published openly due to ethics conditions. To discuss this research, please contact Carl Shi <[email protected]> ORCID 0009-0007-7185-5996