CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION POTENTIAL OF REDUCING FOOD WASTAGE IN CLASSIFIED STAR HOTELS IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Food waste is on the verge of becoming the world's number one engine for global warming as a result of the level of Methane and Carbon Dioxide gases emitted from decomposition at landfill sites. Global food wastes have continued to contribute to approximately 8% of the greenhouse gas emissions annually. In view of this, the researcher purposed to realize this objective through both the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the following indicators: major reasons the facilities use to minimize food waste; actions practiced at the hotels to reduce food waste; strategies facilities use to implement reduction of food waste; and management of food waste based on reduce, reuse, and recycle. The findings revealed that, the respondents had the knowledge of the major reason that made the facilities reduce food waste, where majority (66.7%) cited government regulatory framework as the key reason, while others (29.2%) cited the strategic framework of the hotel. The results also showed that (75%) of the hotels considered portion size for customers through pricing mechanisms as one of the key practices to reduce food waste. The study concluded that reducing food waste had a significant potential to mitigate climate change.

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