Whether it’s solar canopy plants in Disneyland Paris, partnering with Green Toys to create toys out of 100% recycled materials, or making merchandise out of recycled plastic bottles — Disney has taken and continues to take many actions to work towards being more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
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Now Disney is looking to the future and has set some BIG 2030 sustainability goals! Here’s what The Walt Disney Company will be doing over the next few years at the parks, Disney Cruise Line, and more to become more sustainable overall.
If you visit The Walt Disney Company website, you can see a whole bunch of ways that Disney is working toward protecting the planet. Disney’s own statement notes that the Company has had a “strong commitment to the environment throughout its history” and is “excited to continue building on that legacy with new, ambitious environmental goals for 2030″ in areas where they think the Company can have a significant, lasting impact.
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The areas of focus include climate and energy, water and oceans, waste, materials, and sustainable building design.
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In terms of climate and energy, Disney has said that they are committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions for their direct operations by 2030. In order to do this, Disney’s strategy will include avoiding emissions by building more sustainably, investing in more efficiency technologies, and replacing high-carbon energy sources with lower carbon alternatives.
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Regarding water and oceans, Disney plans to have each of its high water impact sites “implement localized watershed stewardship strategies starting in 2021” focusing on water conservation and investments to conserve local natural water systems. Also, beginning in 2022, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts will “serve 100% responsibly sourced seafood” in its US parks and resorts.
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Disney is also planning to reduce its waste and is working to achieve “zero waste to landfill” for its wholly owned and operated parks and resorts by 2030. The Company plans to achieve this by a comprehensive waste management plan that relies on reducing waste at Disney’s properties, including food waste, reusing products, and maximizing recycling.
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In terms of its materials, Disney has set a number of goals for its Consumer Products section to meet by 2030, including having all paper used as a primary material in its branded packaging and products to contain 100% recycled content, or be from a verified or certified sustainable source.
Disney has also set a commitment to continue to reduce single-use plastics (like what we’ve seen already with the removal of plastic straws) and has set the following goals:
- Plastic in our branded products and packaging will contain 30% or higher recycled content or use a lower impact alternative by 2030.
- All of our branded packaging will be designed to ensure the ability to reuse, recycle in region, or compost by 2030.
- In addition, Disney Cruise Line will reduce 80% of single use, guest-facing plastic items on board by 2022 to further reduce any risks to plastics leaking into the ocean.
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Finally, Disney is also focusing on building sustainably. They’ve said that they will be working on designing all new construction “with a focus on minimizing waste, water, and energy in the construction and use of the building.”
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Overall, Disney said it is committed to “conserving and enhancing natural resources for future generations,” and noted that the company believes “environmental sustainability is core to being a responsible company.”
If you want to learn more, you can view the entire White Paper detailing Disney’s goals and the steps they plan to take to achieve them. We’ll definitely keep an eye out for more information about Disney’s environmental goals and how they may change things in the parks, cruise line, and other areas. Stay tuned for all the latest!
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Why only in US, what about Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo?? Why are only the one section if you are going to do it, do it across the board otherwise the US consumers are paying all the up charges that come with all this “saving the earth” I for one am tired of hearing how we are doing all this going green and China, India, Brazil, Africa, etc just go on with business as usual!