Keywords

1 Introduction

The tourism sector is of utmost importance for the economic development of countries; however, this industry, like others, has contributed to the deterioration of the environment by generating large quantities of waste. In hotels and restaurants, we can mention cooking oils, wastewater, individual soaps, paper and cardboard packaging, household appliances, mattresses, linens, utensils, plastic and glass containers, among others. The harmful results of an ecologically unplanned tourism development can irreversibly damage the resources necessary for the permanence of the project (El Insignia, 2016). According to Cárdenas (2019) the main environmental impacts of the hotel and restaurant sector are: water contamination, soil contamination by solid waste or dumping, affecting flora and fauna, atmospheric contamination and the depletion of water resources.

Another impact on the environment is linked to food waste. In this regard, the United Nations estimates that between 8 and 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed (Paul, 2021). According to the study Make the most of food: A guide to reducing food waste in the hotel, restaurant and catering sector, between 4 and 10% of food purchased in restaurants ends up in the trash, meaning that more than 1,300 tonnes of food are thrown away annually on the planet, from the time it is prepared until it is consumed by the customer (Coderch, 2016).

On the other hand, there are some international actions of commitment to sustainability in the tourism sector among which we can mention the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative (GTPI) that brings together the tourism sector towards the development of a shared vision to address the causes and effects of plastic pollution, to lead by example in the shift towards a circular economy for plastics (World Tourism Organization [UNWTO], 2021). Another contribution is the document: Let’s make the most of food: A guide to reduce food waste in the hotel, restaurant and catering sector, which is a useful tool published by the Environmental Office of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Alicia Foundation that includes concrete measures to make catering establishments more efficient by making better use of food (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona & Fundación Alicia, 2013). It is also worth mentioning the Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism Quintana Roo 2030 (PMTS 2030), a strategic instrument characterised by a diagnosis that analyses global tourism trends and formulates a strategy for the year 2030 (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales [SEDETUR], 2020). These efforts must continue to be added to implement, strengthen and consolidate a model of sustainable economy in the tourism sector, especially considering that worldwide travellers are opting for environmentally friendly tourism, sustainability is now an indispensable part of the competitiveness of the tourism sector (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales [SEMARNAT], 2023),

In this context, the aim of this conceptualisation work is to analyse, based on a literature review, the importance of the circular economy for the tourism sector, as well as the research instruments and conclusions of various empirical studies on this topic. As for the methodology, the approach is qualitative and the type of documentary research, in the research procedure various sources on the subject of CE were identified, descriptors were developed to classify the information, the Mendenley reference manager was used to facilitate the organisation of documents, reading and analysis of the information.

This is because at the business level, CE practices emphasise the achievement of the twin goals of environmental and economic performance (Zhu et al., 2010).

2 Development of the Theme

2.1 Economic Sustainability

Sustainable development means “ensuring that the needs of the present are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Naciones Unidas, Asamblea General, 1987, p. 23). The concept was first used at the United Nations General Assembly by the World Commission on the Environment and disseminated in the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development entitled Our Common Future. The Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT, 2018, p. iii) states that “achieving environmental sustainability can create jobs. The green economy will be an important driver of employment growth in the future of work”.

Environmental sustainability is essential to improve the supply of jobs and in this regard, legislation is an important element in directing efforts towards decent work during and after the transition to environmental sustainability, provides support for the green economy and is helpful for emerging sectors to provide decent working conditions, and multilateral agreements between States often address labour issues, environmental rights in the workplace, employment protection, and occupational health and safety (OIT, 2018).

For his part, Tarupi (2022) points out that economic sustainability is based on productivity related to development and economic growth linked to the biosphere, labour and capital; the author adds that social sustainability, for its part, emphasises human talent with the capacity to deal with the impact suffered by ecosystems.

Sustainability thus triggers linked challenges that require a holistic programme, analysis of various disciplines and collaboration of social actors in order to achieve economic, ecological and social sustainability (Tarupi, 2022). In this sense, an important way forward is to move from a linear to a circular economy and to foster green competences in organisations.

2.2 Circular Economy

According to data from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 66% of the world's inhabitants will live in cities; the transition from a linear to a circular economy will take place gradually, as will the effects on waste generation. The foundation states that cities consume 75% of natural resources, account for more than 50% of global waste and produce almost 80% of greenhouse gases (MacArthur, 2017).

However, sustainability is the first reference point for understanding the CE model. In 1972, the United Nations Environment Programme was created to seek a balance between economic growth and environmental conservation. To this end, the Brundtland Report called Our Common Future was drawn up. In 2015, the Sustainable Development Summit was held in New York, at which the UN approved the 2030 Agenda with 17 goals, 169 integrated goals (Rivera & Martínez, 2021).

CE is seen as a new global socio-economic approach and paradigm for sustainable development. The European Parliament defines CE in the following terms: “The circular economy is a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, renting, reusing, repairing, renewing and recycling existing materials and products as often as possible to create added value” (Parlamento Europeo, 2022, para. 2).

The concept of CE as such was proposed in Great Britain by the environmental economists David W. Pearce and R. Kerry Turner, in 1989 with the work Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment, agreeing that it is an economic model focused on the optimal use of renewable and non-renewable natural resources, in one or more circular processes, as opposed to the linear model, very marked by the process produce, consume and throw away and thus move to the model or cycle that feeds back leaving the smallest possible ecological footprint (Ecofestes, 2006).

The following schools of thought contribute to the CE model: Walter Stahel's performance economics; William McDonough and Michael Braungart's Cradle to Cradle design philosophy; Janine Benyus’ conceptualisation of biomimicry; Reid Lifset and Thomas Graedel's industrial ecology; the blue economy approach, as described by Gunter Pauli, among others (MacArthur, 2017).

In order to understand and frame CE, it is necessary to first identify the conceptualisation of the linear economy, which is currently the most widely used in production processes, in order to establish a comparison to understand the substantive and beneficial part of CE. Therefore, “the linear economy is the traditional model where raw materials are extracted to manufacture products, produced and then discarded, without taking into account the environmental footprint and its consequences” (Banco Santander, 2021, para. 3).

According to the Foundation, CE is based on three principles: (1) eliminating waste and pollution by design; (2) maintaining products and materials in use; and (3) regenerating natural systems.

CE is achieved through the repair, recycling, reuse, and remanufacturing of products, as in the case of automobile oil, which used to be thrown into sewers; now it is collected and has become an important input for another production process, closing cycles. On the other hand, CE also generates jobs, new markets and, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), it could generate almost five million jobs (Zacarías, 2018). In the challenge of consolidating CE, Scheel and Bello (2022) propose an Extended Circular Value model, changing the creation of value from a single delivery to cycles in a circular system through business clusters capable of generating value for all stakeholders.

However, CE relates to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are part of the 2030 Agenda, specifically goals 12 and 13: responsible production and consumption, and climate action, as well as goals 6 (clean water and sanitation), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 8 (decent work and economic growth) and 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) (Pimenta et al., 2022).

Moving towards CE means reduced environmental impacts, increased competitiveness, innovation and employment, but it also means taking on challenges such as developing skills and guiding consumer behaviour (Bourguignon, 2016).

2.2.1 Circular Economy for the Tourism Sector

Tourism is considered as an economic model capable of generating wealth and quality of life for its inhabitants, especially in developing countries, and therefore with a high impact on the economy and the environment (Santacruz & Santacruz, 2020). Because of its contribution to the economy, it is important to develop the tourism sector, but within a framework of sustainability, i.e. achieving a balance between environmental conservation, economic prosperity and social welfare, to achieve this it is necessary to move from a linear economy to a CE. To achieve sustainable tourism, collaboration between actors in the sector must prevail in the planning, management and implementation of projects, as well as identifying relationships with other economic sectors that can contribute to sustainability efforts (Fusco & Nocca, 2017).

In this sense, the challenge for these companies is to maintain the value of their material resources for a longer period of time in order to reduce the generation of waste and take advantage of those that are inevitably generated either for their own benefit or for the benefit of another sector, the path is to increasingly adopt CE practices. Xu et al. (2022) argues that there is an urgent need to establish indices to assess the sustainability of the tourism industry based on CE theory.

2.2.2 Technology in a Circular Economy for Tourism

According to the graphic based on the Butterfly Diagram of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Doughnut Economics, CE provides purpose and drives development towards Industry 4.0 to enable the activation of circular strategies that support the two important wings: regeneration and restoration. Regeneration is capturing value at each stage of decomposition and restoration is repairing, remanufacturing, reusing and recycling. All of the above with the guiding axes of extracting (biological or technological nutrients), making and consuming or using to minimise the loss of materials and energy (Centro de Innovación y Economía Circular, 2023).

Artifact, process and organisational technologies (Villalba, et al., 2022) contribute to the transition towards a circular economy that ensures added value and sustainability. According to Schröder et al. (2020) the triumph of the transition towards CE is related to the widespread use of Industry 4.0 technologies, such as blockchain, cloud computing, big data analytics, among others. The author adds that the generation and dissemination of information on the waste stream promoted by Industry 4.0 technologies is fundamental to increase recycling rates instead of final adoptions such as landfill and incineration. All of the above with potential application to the tourism industry in terms of circular economy.

Vargas-Sánchez (2021) also mentions that:

“Artificial intelligence is also entering restaurants, more specifically their kitchens. Thus, with machine vision technology, chefs can make better decisions in order to drastically reduce both food waste and the costs of their activity” (p. 123).

2.2.3 Empirical Research on the Circular Economy

This section presents various measures to assess CE practices at the organisational level and the authors’ conclusions based on the findings.

Zhu et al. (2010) presents a measure to assess CE practices, adapted from various authors, validated with expert opinion: academics, civil servants and industrial managers to verify the appropriateness of the questionnaire items and the understanding of the questionnaire, with the dimensions: Internal Business Management, Eco-design and Return on Investment. Taking this scale as a background Botezat et al. (2018) conducted a research to identify the relationship between the cooperation between the members of the eco-oriented supply chain and the practices and performance of Romanian producers with respect to the implementation of the principles of CE, they conclude that the type of cluster to which a producer belongs influences its CE practices.

Mura et al. (2020) developed a 7-point Likert-type scale to inquire about the CE practices that have been implemented in Italian SMEs, the main constraints and facilitators for the adoption of CE and sustainable business practices. They conclude that CE practices are not being widely implemented in the companies that participated in the study due to the perception that they increase costs in the organisations.

In another study, Broche-Fernández and Ramos-Gómez (2015) present a methodological instrument to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the environmental performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in the hotel sector in Cuba that includes indicators related to CE, such as: total consumption of materials, packaging, energy and water; as well as the amount of waste for disposal and recycling. Likewise for the tourism sector, Cornejo-Ortega & Chávez (2020) designed a questionnaire to measure the knowledge about CE and CE certification processes of owners and managers of restaurants and hotels, in their study they conclude that less than 50% of the participants are aware of the elements of CE and only 51.5% consider that CE certification should be unavoidable. A study on return on investment for food waste reduction involving 700 companies from 17 countries that considered restaurants and hotels, the results reported that 99% of businesses had a positive return, where the sites with the best returns tend to be restaurants between 5:1 and 10:1 (Hanson & Mitchell, 2017), a result that is important to disseminate, to eradicate the belief that environmental conservation practices only generate costs.

3 Conclusions

The CE model is starting to be aired in the tourism sector, however, it is imperative that all actors in this sector contribute to the transition towards sustainable business models, where CE is a significant alternative to achieve this.

Hotels, restaurants, and other businesses in the tourism sector should initiate or consolidate actions such as the design of green services and internal environmental management that foster commitment to environmental issues through processes throughout the value chain that promote a circular approach.

The literature review identifies that most of the research instruments to assess CE practices have content validity through expert judgement and some with reliability tests of Conbranch’s Alpha, but there are few studies with construct validity tests or structural equation models that relate variables that influence CE.