Anàlisi del flux de matèria i energia en un restaurant: identificació de factors determinants a l’hora de la gestió i certificació

Abstract

This work has been done with the aim of analysing the flows of matter and energy in a restaurant and see which are the most important factors in the management. It should be noted that this study is the first step towards a more detailed future study since it is based on approximate data; that’s because it has been intended to compile the maximum information without compromising the normal functioning of the studied establishment. This topic has been chosen due to the alarming current situation in the waste generation: approximately 262.471 tonnes of waste food are generated annually, and 3.73 million tonnes of urban waste were produced throughout Catalonia. In addition, it should be considered that in this region the predominant sector is the services ones, with many restaurants that, if they are not managed in a proper way, can produce many wastes. All this adds to the fact that no such study was found in Spain in terms of global restaurant management. All this work has been supported on the project within the Horizon 2020 program called UrbanWINS. This has provided the first methodology applied to the study: the DPSIR model, which has allowed to identify all the factors (both social and environmental) that affect the restaurant. With the "Material Flow Analysis", the inputs and outputs of matter and energy to the system has been measured. Thanks to this, it has been estimated that the establishment generates a carbon footprint of 181,4 tonnes of CO2 per year and requires a water footprint of 15.043.297,32 litters of water to produce all the food required by the restaurant. On the other hand, it has also been estimated that each customer, when consuming in the restaurant consumes 33,3 L of water, 0.3 dm3 of gas, 3,91 kWh of electricity, 65,47 g of used oils and 404 g of organic waste. Finally, one of the most important factors that link the operation of the restaurant with the environment was studied: the sustainability certificates; where many factors have been considered. Despite this, there are imbalances with the points to reach the minimum levels of sustainability, without considering an average of all the required factors. All these data are of great importance when it comes to future management. This work has allowed us to quantify values that are not normally considered in the management of a restaurant