Using The Concept Of The Weighted Ishikawa Diagram For Defining The Impact Of Catering Enterprises On The Environment

Every organization uses various resources to achieve its aim. Some of resources come from the environment, for example, energy carriers, or water. As a result of an organization’s activity, some pollution is emitted to the water and atmosphere. Presently in Poland there can be observed a high growth rate of services in the field of institutional food service. It is a legal obligation in Poland to implement and maintain a institutional food safety system, as the HACCAP (HACCP – Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points). The organizations that have implemented HACCP into their operations cause environmental loads that have negative impact on the environment. Taking into account the above-mentioned issue, the article attempts to answer the question: which environmental aspect, closely connected with the maintenance of the HACCP system in an institutional food service unit, have the largest impact on the pollution of the environment? The weighted Cause and Effect Ishikawa Diagram is used as a research tool to achieve this target. Its modification that is presented in scientific literature enables us to display both qualitative and quantitative information. In accordance with this method, ‘critical paths’ are indicated for the most important causes that create the given effect. What is defined in this article as the effect is generating of environmental loads on the environment by an institutional food service unit. While the causes are defined as environmental aspects, they characterize this organizational part of the unit that is covered by the institutional food safety system. They include water consumption, municipal wastes generation, and consumption of energy carriers: natural gas and electric energy, inorganic waste generation, cleaning supply measures consumption, the consumption of the office materials and exploitation materials to office equipment. The analysis of the quantity of particular factors that create environmental aspects show which environmental aspects have the largest impact on the environment and cause its pollution. These are as follows: water consumption, cleaning supply measures consumption and electric energy consumption.