Tourism is one of the major economic factors contributing to growth and jobs worldwide. The number of international travellers has increased more than 50-fold in the past 70 years. However, the contribution of tourism to (municipal) waste generation is also large and is increasing, accompanied by an increase in some environmental and socio-economic impacts. An average value of 1.67 kg waste is now generated per tourist (Obersteiner et al., 2017). Waste prevention and recycling should therefore be major objectives in tourist waste management by municipal authorities.

Within the EU H2020-funded project “URBANWASTE – Urban Strategies for Waste Management in Tourist Cities”, eco-innovative waste prevention and management strategies were implemented in 10 pilot cities with high levels of tourism, in order to reduce urban waste production and improve municipal waste management. This study examined the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions savings for three selected waste prevention and treatment options: food waste prevention, reductions in single use plastic and increased separate collection and recycling of waste. Benefits were expressed per kg waste prevented or diverted higher up the waste hierarchy and per 1000 tourists.

The measures achieved potential GHG emission savings of between 4 and 189 kg CO2-eq. per 1000 tourists, depending on local conditions such as the existing waste management system. Measures tackling food waste reduction and separate collection had low emissions associated with the measure itself, whereas for assessed measures reducing the use of single use plastics by providing reusable alternatives, emissions associated with the measures were relatively high. This was due to the emissions associated with the production of the alternative reusable products. Influencing factors reducing the carbon footprint of waste management in tourism other than the kind of waste focused on were the existing waste management system (especially for biowaste) as well as the practicability and scalability of measures under the divers regional circumstances.

旅游业是促进全球增长和就业的主要经济因素之一。在过去的 70 年里，国际旅行者的数量增加了 50 多倍。然而，旅游业对（市政）废物产生的贡献也很大，而且还在增加，伴随着一些环境和社会经济影响的增加。现在每位游客平均产生 1.67 公斤垃圾（Obersteiner 等，2017）。因此，废物预防和回收应成为市政当局旅游废物管理的主要目标。

在欧盟 H2020 资助的项目“URBANWASTE – 旅游城市废物管理的城市战略”中，在 10 个旅游水平较高的试点城市实施了生态创新的废物预防和管理战略，以减少城市废物产生并改善城市废物管理。这项研究检查了三个选定的废物预防和处理方案的潜在温室气体 (GHG) 减排量：防止食物浪费、减少一次性塑料以及增加废物的单独收集和回收。收益表示为每公斤废物防止或转移到废物等级更高以及每 1000 名游客。

这些措施实现了 4 至 189 千克二氧化碳当量的潜在温室气体减排量。每 1000 名游客，取决于当地条件，例如现有的废物管理系统。减少食物垃圾和单独收集的措施与措施本身相关的排放量较低，而对于通过提供可重复使用的替代品来减少一次性塑料使用的评估措施，与这些措施相关的排放量相对较高。这是由于与替代可重复使用产品的生产相关的排放。除了重点关注的废物种类之外，减少旅游废物管理碳足迹的影响因素是现有的废物管理系统（特别是生物废物）以及在不同区域情况下措施的实用性和可扩展性。