Solid Waste Management Key Indicator Development for Hotels: A Tunisian Case Study Analysis

The main objective of this research was to provide suitable technical, organizational, financial, legal, and social indicators for solid waste management (SWM) systems, which can be used to diagnose the current situation faced by tourist destinations (TD) in Tunisia. To this end, 33 interviews and field visits to hotels in Tunisia were carried out. Specifically, the study covers tourist municipalities, private companies, and environment and tourism authorities. A characterization analysis and a quantification of the solid waste (SW) generated by hotels were also performed. It was found that hotels generate large amounts of mixed SW, especially during the summer period. It represents, for example, 45.5% of the total SW generated per year in Hammamet, and can reach 54.2% during the summer. The interviews indicated that 83% of the hotels collect mixed waste, which is then sent to landfills. The characterization of the SW shows that hotels generate about 58% organic waste, and a minimum of 36% of recyclable waste could be valorized. From a financial point of view, the results indicated that the collected taxes from hotels do not cover the municipalities’ expenses. The findings of the research reported in this paper can be used as a decision-making support.