Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Takes Steps Towards an Eco-Friendly Future

Last week, the Disneyland Resort was honored with a Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award, California’s highest environmental honor, for waste-reduction efforts. The program distinguishes organizations that are leaders in environmental stewardship and that make notable efforts to conserve California’s natural resources. Over the last 10 years, the Disneyland Resort has doubled the amount of waste diverted from landfills, and is working toward the long-term goal of achieving Zero Waste—a distinction already awarded to Circle D Corral at Disneyland park. In addition to recycling paper, cardboard, plastics and metal, Circle D Corral composts all animal waste, hand towels, laundry lint and coffee grounds from Disneyland Resort restaurants.

Congratulations to the Disneyland Resort for its environmental achievements! Here’s a look at how Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are taking steps to become even more eco-friendly on a global scale:

At Walt Disney World Resort, the nighttime spectacular IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth dazzles Epcot guests at with new environmentally friendly lasers. Brighter and more precise, the show’s new solid-state lasers use the energy equivalent of a hair dryer, saving approximately 64,000 watts of power with each show.

Aboard Disney Cruise Line, all ships have dedicated Environmental Officers who monitor the ship’s water quality and supply, oversee shipboard recycling and sanitation initiatives and train other officers and crew members on environmental safety. To date, Disney Cruise Line programs have eliminated more than 6,400 tons of metal, glass, plastic and paper from traditional waste streams through recycling, and removed 31,000 pounds of trash and debris from beaches and waterways.

Tokyo Disney Resort has also made some enhancements to be more green. Tokyo DisneySea recently introduced the first electric vehicle on the Big City Vehicles attraction, and will transition the remaining six vehicles to electric by March 2017.

Hong Kong Disneyland is taking a similar approach to conservation by enhancing facilities at the resort. They have replaced the lighting systems in workshops with energy efficient LED lamps. Simple changes like these result in big energy savings.

As a responsible corporate citizen, Shanghai Disney Resort is embedding environmental thinking as the resort is designed. Before they even welcome their first guests, they are minimizing impact on the local environment while saving energy and lowering emissions. For instance, a resourceful technology will take wasted energy from power generation and convert it into useable energy to heat and cool the resort. This technology will increase energy efficiency by a factor of three, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from operations by 60 percent.

At Disneyland Paris, a food waste collection program has been implemented in the resort’s restaurants and employee cafeterias. The waste collected is treated through biomethanization for energy recovery and use in organic soil. Additionally, during 2014, the resort’s wastewater treatment plant saved approximately 53 million gallons of water for the first year of use.

These teams are making efforts—big and small—to create a greener future.