Tourism intensity and plastic waste management: insights from European capital cities
Abstract The surge in demand for plastic materials, coupled with the rising trend of out-of-home food consumption, has posed significant challenges to urban waste management systems. These challenges are intensified in touristic cities where touch-and-go tourism leads visitors to spend most of the d...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Discover Sustainability |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-00977-5 |
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| author | Eleonora Foschi Jelena Barbir Luigi Mersico Zaneta Stasiskiene |
| author_facet | Eleonora Foschi Jelena Barbir Luigi Mersico Zaneta Stasiskiene |
| author_sort | Eleonora Foschi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The surge in demand for plastic materials, coupled with the rising trend of out-of-home food consumption, has posed significant challenges to urban waste management systems. These challenges are intensified in touristic cities where touch-and-go tourism leads visitors to spend most of the day outside, resulting in a high generation of waste in urban areas. While existing research focuses predominantly on the hospitality sector, the role of public administrations remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by surveying city managers from ten European capitals, providing a comprehensive overview of plastic waste management and prevention patterns. Results reveal that legislative measures and plastic bans are effective, but local initiatives and social programs require further support. Waste generated in public areas is less scrutinized than residential waste, and differences in municipal waste collection schemes hinder proper sorting. Findings underscore the need for collaborative efforts in both waste prevention and management to strengthen partnerships with hotels, restaurants and shopkeepers, as well as the proper design of waste logistics and infrastructure and dedicated communication campaigns in tourist hotspots. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-73cdb4fc9a754d3bb132e82957ad0cd9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-9984 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Discover Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj-art-73cdb4fc9a754d3bb132e82957ad0cd92025-08-20T04:01:47ZengSpringerDiscover Sustainability2662-99842025-05-016111810.1007/s43621-025-00977-5Tourism intensity and plastic waste management: insights from European capital citiesEleonora Foschi0Jelena Barbir1Luigi Mersico2Zaneta Stasiskiene3Department of Management, Bologna UniversityFaculty of Life Sciences, Research Transfer Centre & Sustainable Development & Climate Change Management, Hamburg University of Applied SciencesDepartment of Management, Bologna UniversityInstitute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas University of TechnologyAbstract The surge in demand for plastic materials, coupled with the rising trend of out-of-home food consumption, has posed significant challenges to urban waste management systems. These challenges are intensified in touristic cities where touch-and-go tourism leads visitors to spend most of the day outside, resulting in a high generation of waste in urban areas. While existing research focuses predominantly on the hospitality sector, the role of public administrations remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by surveying city managers from ten European capitals, providing a comprehensive overview of plastic waste management and prevention patterns. Results reveal that legislative measures and plastic bans are effective, but local initiatives and social programs require further support. Waste generated in public areas is less scrutinized than residential waste, and differences in municipal waste collection schemes hinder proper sorting. Findings underscore the need for collaborative efforts in both waste prevention and management to strengthen partnerships with hotels, restaurants and shopkeepers, as well as the proper design of waste logistics and infrastructure and dedicated communication campaigns in tourist hotspots.https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-00977-5Plastic waste managementPlastic waste preventionEU capital citiesPublic administrationsCities |
| spellingShingle | Eleonora Foschi Jelena Barbir Luigi Mersico Zaneta Stasiskiene Tourism intensity and plastic waste management: insights from European capital cities Discover Sustainability Plastic waste management Plastic waste prevention EU capital cities Public administrations Cities |
| title | Tourism intensity and plastic waste management: insights from European capital cities |
| title_full | Tourism intensity and plastic waste management: insights from European capital cities |
| title_fullStr | Tourism intensity and plastic waste management: insights from European capital cities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tourism intensity and plastic waste management: insights from European capital cities |
| title_short | Tourism intensity and plastic waste management: insights from European capital cities |
| title_sort | tourism intensity and plastic waste management insights from european capital cities |
| topic | Plastic waste management Plastic waste prevention EU capital cities Public administrations Cities |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-00977-5 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT eleonorafoschi tourismintensityandplasticwastemanagementinsightsfromeuropeancapitalcities AT jelenabarbir tourismintensityandplasticwastemanagementinsightsfromeuropeancapitalcities AT luigimersico tourismintensityandplasticwastemanagementinsightsfromeuropeancapitalcities AT zanetastasiskiene tourismintensityandplasticwastemanagementinsightsfromeuropeancapitalcities |