Do you consider it important to focus on the fight against plastic pollution?

Yes, while tourism has contributed significantly to the economic development of various territories, it has also caused negative effects such as plastic pollution, especially during peak seasons in a wide issue of destinations. agreement to the World Economic Forum, sea pollution levels caused by plastic waste can increase by up to 40% in certain regions during peak seasons, which shows a direct link between tourism activity and the presence of marine debris. Even research from previous decades suggested that up to 80% of the waste in the ocean was composed of non-biodegradable plastics.
 

How can this problem be addressed from your research area ?

We are currently investigating the challenges and opportunities of the hospitality sector, particularly, we focus on how accommodations can move towards the implementation of a circular Economics considering an ecosystem perspective. Our goal is to identify factors that can facilitate or hinder the development of circular practices that improve the economic, social and environmental performance of accommodations in the Basque Country.
 

Are you participating in any project related to this issue? If not, what project would you like to implement to tackle plastic pollution?

Yes, we are currently participating in the following PIBA project being funded by the Basque Government: Challenges of the tourism sector in the Basque Country: sustainability and digitalization. Opportunities and barriers. In the first phase we identified the main opportunities and barriers to implement a circular Economics . In the second phase, we are developing a maturity model to discover the path that accommodations could follow to advance in this transition to circularity.

* Rafael Iván Mora Contreras is a professor at Tecnun. School of Engineering. Learn more about his research.