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Circular Economy Framework for Plastic Waste Management: A Case Study from Coastal Hotels in Zanzibar
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Researchers audited solid waste generation across ten coastal hotels in Zanzibar and found high plastic waste loads averaging 2.45 kg per guest per day under linear disposal systems, then proposed a tailored circular economy framework to help the hospitality sector reduce plastic pollution through reduction strategies and circular innovations.
Tourism-driven growth in Zanzibar has intensified solid waste generation, creating critical environmental and resource management challenges for the hotel sector. This study provides the first comprehensive assessment of the volume, composition, and management of solid waste in Zanzibar’s hotels, establishing a quantitative basis for evidence-based sustainable practices beyond prior research on food waste. Ten hotels were examined through direct waste sampling, structured interviews, and field observations. Results show that hotels generate high levels of unsorted waste (2.45 kg/guest/day), with plastics posing major challenges under the prevailing linear disposal system. Findings reveal that waste patterns depend primarily on management, service, and collection practices, with no significant differences across hotel types or sizes. While the assessment covered the entire waste stream, a tailored circular economy framework is proposed for plastic waste, given its significant contribution to environmental pollution and ecological impact, providing a practical, structured guide for sustainable interventions across hotel operations. Achieving these outcomes requires collaboration, institutional support, and capacity building. By embedding waste audits, reduction strategies, and circular innovations into hotel operations, this framework charts a forward-looking pathway for coastal destinations to transform waste challenges into opportunities, promoting sustainable tourism, resource-use efficiency, and the transition toward a circular economy.
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This review examines plastic pollution in Bali, Indonesia, where high tourist volumes and poor waste management combine to create severe environmental contamination of freshwater and marine ecosystems. It highlights the need to adopt successful NGO models, accelerate recycling infrastructure, and implement a circular economy approach to address the problem sustainably.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.