Green Cities and Waste Management: The Restaurant Industry

Green Cities are cities with the ultimate goal of achieving a net zero-carbon footprint in energy, transportation, architecture, and the activity cost chain of businesses. These cities define the future of our planet by emphasizing the efficient use of resources and the well-being of communities. This study focuses on Green Cities and the restaurant industry. It examines the beliefs of restaurant owners/managers on the positive impact of sustainability practices on financial situation, reputation, and attraction of customers, and the relationship between such beliefs and the extent of engagement in sustainability practices. The research also explores whether declaring a city Green enhances the sustainability practices in that city. The results indicate that the restaurant owners/managers in all three studied cities strongly believe that sustainability practices enhance the financial performance, reputation of the restaurant, and attraction of customers, yet a significant percentage of the wastes and by-products of the operations of the studied restaurants are discarded. In addition, the results of the study show no significant impact on sustainability practices in the studied restaurants for the declared Green cities of Providence (U.S.) and Nancy (France) versus the city of Springfield (U.S.). The study concludes by highlighting the potential reasons underlying the lack of sustainability practices in the restaurant industry and proposes recommendations that can enhance such practices in this industry.