"For some years now, a considerable increase in both the generation and the danger of waste by the tourism sector has been detected, even at faster rates than in the rest of the economy." This is reflected in the study Fundamentals for measuring the sustainability of tourism, prepared by the two public universities of the Canary Islands.
"The intensity of waste generation is one of the most obvious negative consequences for the environment of the tourism sector", indicates the research that continues adding that "the increase of tourists globally, the size of the lodging establishments and the integration of services" in the establishments themselves have contributed to making this problem bigger, especially in the case of the hotel sector.
At this point, it adds that "neither from the accommodation industry nor from other segments have the necessary efforts been made" to reduce the increase in waste, not "at least in a systematic and majority way."
The growth of waste is aggravated in island destinations and remote territories, where there is no logistics to guarantee the recovery and treatment of waste. This study warns that, although "a very high proportion of waste ends up in different landfills in the island territories", the scarcity of land and the vulnerability of their terrestrial and marine ecosystems, make landfills "the least recommended option" to treat them.
This "inaction" by the tourism sector is reflected in "the invisibility of the waste generated." In addition, as its management is municipal, "a high percentage" of the garbage generated by the different tourist activities remains "under the umbrella" of the waste from the residential sector.
"There is no waste collection fee that differentiates users according to the nature of their activity and takes into account the amount of waste produced," the research says. So, "the generation of waste from tourist activities, for example, in lodging establishments, will be invisible, being integrated into the waste management carried out by municipal services to homes and businesses."
In addition, tourism also generates waste outside of accommodations and restaurants. "The use by tourists of services that they share with residents and their mobility in the territory cause additional pressure on the destinations."
The document emphasizes that tourism "increases the scale and costs of the development of treatment infrastructures" of waste, although in reality "they could contribute to increasing the value of the waste and raw materials recovered."
In addition, the public universities of the Canary Islands push local authorities to make "an effort" to measure, monitor and make visible the waste generated by the sector with the aim of promoting regulations to exclude "large tourist generators from domestic collection and transport networks" and "economically" incentivize companies to prevent, reuse and recycle their waste.
