Towards a Small Sustainable Tourism Destination Through Zero Waste: Evidence and Development Strategy of Udjo Ecoland, Indonesia

2.1 Small sustainable tourism destination

Tourism destinations are some of the main commodity products in tourism industry that are still debated by experts and practitioners [27]. In geography-oriented and economic tourism studies, destinations are defined as places toward which people travel and stay for a while to experience certain perceived attractions [28]. Destinations are also traditionally considered as well-defined geographic areas, including countries, islands, or cities where tourism development, planning, and impact occur. However, in the marketing management paradigm, destinations are defined as tourism products that consist of components including a combination of products and services provided locally by stakeholders to fulfill the needs of tourists [29]. A previous study also defined destination as a perceptual concept that consumers interpret subjectively, depending on the travel plans, cultural background, purpose of visit, level of education, and past experiences [30]. Some tourists consider a cruise ship as the destination, while others on the same cruise may consider the port visited during the trip.

In the context of sustainable tourism, a more holistic perspective is needed that considers all sectors and resources to achieve sustainability [31]. Tourist destinations and tourism service providers should identify components in the service chain which, on the one hand, contribute to satisfying travellers’ expectations and, on the other, symbolize the product’s sustainability [32]. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, sustainable tourism should ensure the best use of environmental resources, respect the socio-culture of local communities, and ensure long-term viability by providing equitably distributed socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders [33]. Therefore, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy then defines Sustainable Tourism Destinations as geographical areas in one or more administrative areas having tourist attractions, facilities, accessibility, and communities. These attributes complement the realization of tourism considered current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, fulfilling the needs of visitors, industry, the environment, and local communities. Sustainable tourism destinations are divided into two criteria, namely large-scale (cities or extensive enough areas) and small-scale destinations, such as national parks, nature tourism recreation parks, tourist villages, local communities, museums, festivals, and monuments [34].

In this study, small sustainable tourism destinations are generally defined by the smaller area scale and higher sustainability standards that consider current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts. This was defined based on the regulation of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. In this context, the great paradigm of small sustainable tourism destinations has been developed as opposed to traditional mass tourism, allowing both hosts and guests to enjoy positive and worthwhile interactions, as well as shared experiences.

2.2 Zero waste

The term "waste" often refers to the worthless by-products created at the end of production [35]. Tourism sector generates waste in various solid, liquid, or gaseous forms, including by-products, contaminated, discarded, spilled, and outdated materials, used packaging and containers, and kitchen waste [16]. Tourism and hospitality sector inevitably generates waste, but effective management strategies can minimize the environmental impact. By reducing unnecessary packaging and converting unavoidable waste into valuable resources, the industry can strive for zero-waste operations, thereby mitigating the environmental footprint.

Zero waste directly challenges the assumption that waste is a worthless product that should be discarded or incinerated [36]. However, zero waste principle recognizes that waste is a "misallocated resource" or "resource in transition" generated during the transitional phase of production and consumption activities. Therefore, it should be recirculated into production and consumption [35]. Zero Waste New Zealand Trust proposed the first definition of zero waste as a new paradigm that changed the design of industrial systems where nature was no longer an endless provider of raw materials [37]. This new paradigm closes the 'end of the pipe' of industry into a closed circle, where products are made to be reused, repaired, and recycled to minimize and eliminate the waste generated. The definition of zero waste was later refined by Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) to include the comprehensive conservation of all resources through responsible production, mindful consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials. This method ensures that no waste is sent to landfills, incinerated, or released into the environment, thereby safeguarding human health and the environment from harmful discharges to land, water, or air [38].

The application of circularity to the principle of zero waste is applied by ZWIA through the waste hierarchy or a selection of steps that can be taken to address waste. This waste hierarchy is arranged in an inverted triangle in order from redesign, reduce, reuse, recycle, material recovery, residual management, to unacceptable. The most favorable steps at the top were shown, namely less use of natural resources and pressure on the environment. Similarly, the steps that should be avoided at the bottom were "more significant use of natural resources and impact on the environment" [38]. This waste hierarchy model has specifically shown all stages of waste management but has not considered the participation of stakeholders, both service providers and visitors, which are the main components of sustainable tourism destinations. Therefore, this research aimed to develop the principle of zero waste by interpreting the waste hierarchy popularized by ZWIA into the context of small-scale sustainable tourism destinations. The model of applying the waste hierarchy in small hotels in Wales was also adopted, as well as in the UK [21] with the conceptual framework of waste management for sustainable tourism [14]. A strategic method for sustainable tourism development was defined through the integration of SWOT analysis, TOWS matrix, and AHP [39].

4.1 Zero waste practices in Udjo Ecoland

4.1.1 The idea and design

The idea of establishing Udjo Ecoland is a form of positive expansion from Saung Angklung Udjo in developing community-based tourism in harmony with nature. In this perspective, humans and nature are viewed as interconnected and interdependent, with both having equal importance. This understanding shows the need for humans to coexist with nature, rather than exercising domination, and to prioritize preservation and conservation efforts to protect the natural world. In addition, the Udjo Ecoland entity is an inseparable unity with the community. Udjo Ecoland exists because people engage in farming, raise livestock, and make art. The community will continue to farm, raise livestock, and make art because of the support from Udjo Ecoland. This relationship becomes an unbroken circle where both humans and nature live to support each other. In the context of zero waste, the belief is that human activities should be designed to return to nature, leaving no lasting impact, and providing benefits to the environment. This method aims to create a circular system where resources are continually cycled back into the natural world, promoting sustainability and harmony with nature.

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Figure 3. Zero waste design at Udjo Ecoland

The beliefs of Udjo Ecoland were developed into a production flow design in a closed circle to realize sustainable tourism, as shown in Figure 3. First, all components in Udjo Ecoland area are a living ecosystem where conservation, empowerment, agriculture, livestock, and Angklung production efforts must consistently run daily with or without tourism. Second, the design connects the conservation and agronomic industries with tourism by integrating production flows where all live to support each other. Finally, the design was enhanced with organic waste treatment to cover the waste production flow in both the agronomy and tourism industries. In general, this design has successfully reduced waste, extended product life, and added value to all components in Udjo Ecoland, but it has yet to recycle non-organic waste.

The principles and design developed by Udjo Ecoland are a manifestation of the top step in the waste hierarchy. These principles redesign systemic changes that develop the linear production system towards a closed circle model to avoid unnecessary consumption and address the root causes of waste generation [38]. There is also a connection with the model proposed by Radwan, in which the first step of waste management requires managers to prioritize environmental responsibility. Therefore, there will need to be a commitment to make various waste management efforts and establish clear procedures for waste management [21].

4.1.2 Stakeholders engagement

Udjo Ecoland realizes that implementing zero waste concept is almost impossible without the collaboration and support of stakeholders. Therefore, all vendors who work with Udjo Ecoland must support the principle of zero waste, such as using environmentally friendly packaging and or providing a waste material return scheme. In December 2022, Udjo Ecoland built a collaboration with the organic waste transportation and processing community in Bandung called Ngadaur for handling organic waste in the area. This collaboration includes space utilization, waste management, and education in Bale Riksa Bumi, also known as the house that cares for the earth.

The result of this study was consistent with previous reports that showed the importance of stakeholder collaboration in implementing zero-waste principles [19, 21]. However, in practice, this collaboration faces many problems. Conflicts of interest and the lack of coordination and communication between Udjo Ecoland manager and stakeholders have led to miscommunication in the implementation. This has led to the failure of some initiatives and cooperation. The issues faced by Udjo Ecoland are part of a broader global pattern, also seen in popular tourism destinations across the European Union, where stakeholder interests often clash, leading to communication challenges and conflicts that can impede progress [15].

4.1.3 Waste minimization

Udjo Ecoland has made a series of efforts to minimize waste in all sectors, including conservation, agro-industry, and tourism, including producing organic and inorganic waste. Efforts have been made to reduce the use of hazardous materials, achieving an 80% organic agricultural practice, utilizing forage and fermentation, and eliminating the use of chemical pesticides in the area. Meanwhile, in tourism sector, the focus is on reducing single-use plastics by substituting with reusable materials and providing water stations scattered around the area.

The management promotes the use of local materials for construction, production, and consumption. About 80% of the materials used for buildings around the area were obtained from local environmental resources, such as Mahogany Wood and Gombong Bamboo for building construction. Similarly, some raw materials for tourists use local materials, such as fruits, vegetables, and processed beverage ingredients. There was also an attempt to reduce the use of electricity by drawing water without the help of machines. Water was taken from the river at a higher point to ensure flow using gravity into the main reservoir at the top of the hill. The collected water is then flowed back to the entire area using gravity, both for livestock, agriculture, bathrooms, and other tourism facilities.

This initiative is representative of the reduce and reuse steps in the waste hierarchy, where managers must be able to consider various ways to reduce waste and hazardous materials during the production stage [38]. This result is consistent with previous studies that showed the importance of waste reduction and outlined several practices to minimize waste in tourism destinations and hotels [5, 14]. However, this initiative was still constrained by the resistance of local communities, specifically in the dependence on single-use plastics, which was the toughest challenge in maintaining consistency at Udjo Ecoland.

4.1.4 Waste treatment

Udjo Ecoland has enhanced zero waste implementation by closing the waste production flow in the agronomy and tourism industries through organic waste treatment. In the agronomy industry, agricultural and livestock waste were used as animal feed and plant fertilizer, respectively. The Lemprak cage model, or cages with cement floors covered with rice husks, facilitates the processing of animal waste into compost. Waste urine and feces mixed with rice husks are harvested at a certain period and refrigerated for one night before use. In addition, the collected goat urine was used as a natural pesticide.

In tourism sector, organic waste from tourists' food was collected and fermented to be used as poultry feed or delivered to Bale Riksa Bumi for collection, sorting, and reprocessing. Public kitchen waste, such as bread, fruit, and food scraps is gently chopped into kitchen waste porridge for maggots to eat. Some types of fresh fruits were processed into liquid organic compost and Eco Enzyme. Residues and other hard materials that are difficult to chop, such as durian peels and bones, are piled up and dried to become briquettes or composted. Bale Riksa Bumi has a capacity of up to 5 tons/month and is currently running at 2-3 tons/month.

The last step taken by Udjo Ecoland is a manifestation of recycling in the waste hierarchy that promotes mechanically sorting and recycling waste materials into new products [38]. This result is also consistent with the report of previous studies that various efforts and appropriate waste management mechanisms to ensure waste can be further used as a resource [14, 17]. However, these efforts are hindered by one major problem, namely the failure of Udjo Ecoland to adequately manage most of the inorganic waste. Plastic waste generated, both from internal consumption and tourists, will only be collected and then burned periodically. This problem was caused by a lack of knowledge to develop inorganic waste management with limited human resources.

4.2 Zero waste strategy for Udjo Ecoland

4.2.1 SWOT analysis and TOWS matrix

Table 4. SWOT analysis and TOWS matrix

Source: Processed by researchers (2023)

After qualitative data collection, SWOT Analysis was conducted to holistically evaluate the implementation of zero waste at Udjo Ecoland based on internal and external factors. The evaluation results were then formulated with the guidance of experts through TOWS matrix for sustainable tourism at Udjo Ecoland, as shown in Table 4.

4.2.2 The overall priority of TOWS matrix determined by AHP analysis

Pairwise comparisons were conducted to measure the relative importance of factors in a decision in order to obtain the most effective and ideal strategy in TOWS matrix. AHP method has been applied in this study to prioritize the strategies mentioned in TOWS matrix. The results shown in Table 5 have a suitable strategy consistency ratio as evidenced by a value of less than 0.1. The experts identified strategy WO1, or foster staff participation and training, as the most ideal, with the highest score of 25.6%. This was followed by strategy ST1, WT1, SO2, SO1, WO2, with scores of 23.5%, 20.5%, 14.3%, 8.1%, and 7.9%, respectively. The results of SWOT-TOWS Matrix-AHP analysis as a whole show as follows:

Table 5. The priorities of criteria AHP

Source: Processed by researchers (2023)

Encourage staff participation and training: Experts consider that miscommunication and a lack of human resources are the main problems at Udjo Ecoland. These two factors cause difficulty in implementing the idea of zero waste built by the organization leadership. Therefore, there is a great need to communicate meaningful incentives and awareness to maximize staff participation and transform externally acquired knowledge into internal organizational values [50]. A good way to achieve this is by integrating zero waste as a significant part of an organization's induction training program by educating on why and how to manage waste [21]. Managers can also build intensive discussion spaces, such as weekly meetings or monthly upskilling, as a contextual and sustainable internal learning mechanism.

Developing environment education and zero waste awareness: Udjo Ecoland is built on the principle of interdependence with the community and nature, developing a mutually influential relationship with customers. This principle shows the importance of providing awareness about waste management to tourists and communities as a sustainable process [14]. Collective awareness can be achieved through environment-based education that aims to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of tourism on the environment [51]. In this case, managers incorporate an understanding of zero waste and sustainable tourism into each tour program through information boards, activity modules, and tour guide interpretation materials. Managers can also implement a reward and punishment program as a form of motivation given to visitors.

Developing internal policies and regulations: According to experts, the development of internal regulations and policies will maintain consistency and lock in the previous two strategies. A strategic framework based on policies and regulations can guide the direction, shape, and structure of tourism development [52]. The policy must be formulated as an integrative system that addresses important issues, regulates destination competitiveness, and is oriented toward sustainability. In this context, stakeholder engagement is crucial to ensure policies are effective, meet needs, comply with regulations, and empower communities [50, 53]. Consequently, formulated policies can include a comprehensive analysis of environmental carrying capacity, visitor management (including numbers and activities), waste management protocols, stakeholder engagement and feedback mechanisms, standard operating procedures (SOPs), climate change adaptation strategies, and monitoring and reporting systems.

Creating broader collaboration and partnership: The fragmented and heterogeneous nature of tourism industry naturally requires collaboration and partnership among stakeholders [54]. In the context of zero waste, the implementation of sustainable waste management without support from the ecosystem around the area will require enormous effort and capital. Therefore, experts advise managers to collaborate with several stakeholders, including various levels of government, non-governmental, waste management and auditing, companies, travel agents, and other tourism organizations. This can be achieved by participating in exhibitions, conferences, and consortiums related to zero waste and sustainable tourism. However, in zero waste collaboration, cooperation decisions must be based on one main consideration, the environment and not the economy [21]. The collaboration should ensure that zero waste initiatives or all options in the hierarchy are implemented, waste management capacity is improved, and community participation is fostered [19].

Market expansion and increase sales: Experts argued that the increasing number of people interested in sustainability has a great potential for the sustainable industry to expand the market. This is because a more aware population will demand a new position from the companies [44]. The potential can be used by asserting Udjo Ecoland position on sustainability and developing products and services, such as tour packages that are specifically themed on zero waste. However, strategies for promoting sustainability and sustainable tourism must use strong verbal and visual cues designed to the culture and language of diverse target groups [32]. In this case, managers widen the market from middle to upper-class communities with better environmental awareness and education levels. Additionally, zero-waste principle can also be developed by integrating local wisdom and Sundanese culture, developing a robust campaign that is disseminated through social media platforms and mass media channels.

Developing further research on inorganic waste treatment: Most experts agree on the urgency of inorganic waste management in Udjo Ecoland. However, this is not prioritized, because, in the local context, Indonesia has 65% mixed organic waste [55]. The experts argued that managers must first manage organic waste, followed by the prevention and management of inorganic waste production. Furthermore, a previous study provided many examples of organic waste management in the world that can be implemented in Udjo Ecoland. An example is that managers can build a centralized and decentralized internal waste infrastructure, such as providing three bins and creating drop-off points or recycling depots. This will send the inorganic waste to third parties or recycling industries to be reprocessed into new products [35].