Material flow analysis of food waste in hotel food systems: An empirically grounded critical assessment

Food waste remains a major obstacle to the transition to circular hospitality systems. This study examines how food waste is generated within hotel food-service operations and identifies operational levers for prevention-oriented redesign. Drawing on immersive fieldwork, it documents food flows across preparation and service, providing a property-level estimate of waste volumes and identifying operational hotspots. The analysis reveals four waste-generation mechanisms: defensive batching during mise en place, abundance signalling and late replenishment in buffet service, portion–demand misalignment in plated service, and weak segregation and monitoring in back-of-house routines. These mechanisms arise from service design and operational timing, not demand variability alone. Building on these findings, the study proposes a circular transition framework based on five operational levers: demand-synchronised mise en place, menu modularity and ingredient cross-utilisation, dynamic replenishment cut-offs, portion calibration and plate architecture, and tiered waste tracking embedded in managerial KPIs. • Quantifies food-waste flows in prep, service, and post-service phases. • Compares buffet and à la carte formats to reveal key waste hotspots. • Uses a transparent, replicable material-flow protocol for hotel operations. • Recommends low-cost actions to cut waste without hurting guest experience. • Provides property-level benchmarks of food-waste volumes for hospitality.