How to Develop Circular Economy in Tourism

March 5, 202652:2336 views

Summary

This ITB Berlin 2026 panel session, moderated by Dr. Hannes Thees (Catholic University Eichstaett-Ingolstadt), brought together five practitioners and researchers to move the circular economy conversation in tourism from theory to tangible action. The session opened with two structured pitches before transitioning into a moderated panel discussion reinforced by live Slido audience polling.

Hoang Anh Nguyen (ecoLocked GmbH) presented the case for biochar-infused concrete as a carbon-negative building material. Concrete currently represents 8% of global CO2 emissions — if it were a country, it would be the third largest emitter after China and the US. The world currently pours 14 billion cubic meters of concrete annually, a figure expected to double due to urbanization in the Global South. ecoLocked's process embeds biochar (derived from biomass residues via pyrolysis) into concrete: 1 kg of biochar stores up to 3 kg of CO2, locked away for up to 1,000 years. Real-world applications include the Potsdam city-branding 'P-O-T-S-D-A-M' letters and street furniture installations, demonstrating tangible circular storytelling for tourism destinations.

Dina Padalkina (Circular Berlin) and Antje Kaltofen (Seminaris Hotels) jointly presented a food waste reduction pilot launched in 2023 together with Visit Berlin. The project structured the work across six modules: waste measurement, sourcing, warehouse management, food preparation, guest communication, and strategic integration. A key tool was an AI-powered food waste scale (from company Kitros) that categorized waste by origin — guest plate waste, kitchen production waste, or disposal. One Seminaris location in Nuremberg conducted six months of entirely manual food waste tracking, proving that commitment matters more than technology access. Key outcomes: hotels can save both resources and money; guest behavior differs from home behavior and must be proactively managed; stopping buffet restocking before service ends without communication led to negative OTA reviews.

Dr. Jasper Heslinga (European Tourism Futures Institute, NHL Stenden University) provided the macro research framing. The global Circularity Gap Report shows only 7% of global material consumption comes from secondary sources. His own region in Friesland, Netherlands, leads globally at 10.6–10.7% circularity — yet is still 90% linear. Heslinga's institute runs the 'Sprung' (Leap) project, a design-based intervention that connects circular front-runners with policymakers, NGOs, and other stakeholders in active co-creation rather than traditional analysis-and-report cycles. A showcase experiment: making one fully circular hotel room using recycled office carpet tiles and a sustainably manufactured mattress.

Jan-Uwe Riest (Gut Boltenhof, a rural estate 70 km north of Berlin) demonstrated hyper-local circular integration: a farm, butchery, farm shop, hotel, and restaurant on site. Guests participate in daily routines — egg collection, feeding animals, witnessing the full field-to-plate chain — which generates transparency and willingness to accept slightly higher prices. From April 2026, guided farm tours will be offered. The estate heats via on-site woodland (10 hectares), making resource limits physically visible to guests and staff.

The panel converged on procurement — especially public procurement — as the most scalable lever: if German municipalities mandated circular catering, it would create structural demand. Other scaling pathways discussed: open-source knowledge sharing between hotels, local supplier partnerships (e.g., Brandenburg suppliers for Berlin hotels), vocational school education for next-generation hospitality workers, and EU/German subsidy accessibility reform.

Key Takeaways

•Concrete produces 8% of global CO2 emissions — if it were a country, it would rank third behind China and the US. The world pours 14 billion cubic meters per year (equivalent to rebuilding New York City every month), a figure expected to double due to Global South urbanization. ecoLocked embeds biochar into concrete: 1 kg of biochar stores up to 3 kg of CO2 for up to 1,000 years, making buildings into active carbon sinks.
•Only 7% of global material consumption currently comes from secondary (circular) sources, according to the Circularity Gap Report. Even the world's leading region — Friesland, Netherlands — is only at 10.6–10.7% circularity, meaning 90% of activity there remains linear. Dr. Heslinga: 'That's not a reason to be pessimistic — it's still the beginning.'
•The Circular Berlin / Seminaris / Visit Berlin food waste pilot (2023) structured work into six modules: measurement, sourcing, warehouse management, food preparation, guest communication, and strategic embedding. The key insight was that food waste is not just a kitchen problem — it requires organization-wide systemic change, not isolated operational fixes.
•One Seminaris hotel in Nuremberg achieved six months of manual food waste tracking without any technology, demonstrating that willingness and commitment are the primary prerequisites for circular action, not innovative tools. However, the AI-powered Kitros scale — which categorized waste by origin — was described as 'definitely much more convenient.'
•Guest communication is a critical and underestimated barrier. Stopping buffet restocking before the end of service without explanation generated negative OTA reviews. Antje Kaltofen (Seminaris): 'You have to communicate because if you don't, you get bad results on all the online travel agents.' The lesson: every circular change requires a corresponding guest education campaign.
•At Gut Boltenhof, guest transparency into the full production chain — from farm to plate — creates price acceptance. Jan-Uwe Riest: 'Due to this understanding, they are willing and they accept a little bit higher prices.' Guests who participate in farm activities become co-owners of the sustainability story, not just consumers.

Transcript

Um, moving from ambition to impact, our next session dives into one of the most vital pioneering topics of our industry, circular economy. Guiding this discussion is an expert from the chair of tourism at the Catholic University of Aishad Engat. His work spams from research on uh local economic development and tourism and also sustainable entrepreneurship to work outside the academia and in an international uh landscape. Please welcome now on stage Dr. Hannist T. Thanks Julia. Hello. Welcome eve...