A commitment by employees to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste whenever possible has truly become one of Disney’s hallmark environmental initiatives. Through the years, many of these efforts have been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which honored Disney with a 2006 WasteWise Honorable Mention for a Very Large Business.

• Disney business units donated and recycled more than 63,000 tons of materials in 2005, resulting in an estimated 40 percent waste diversion from landfills and nearly $1.7 million in avoided disposal costs.
• Disneyland Resort Paris increased cardboard recycling totals by 32 percent last year as a result of efforts to enhance communications and to add collection points throughout the Resort.
• An adult bull elephant produces approximately 350 pounds of “poop” during each 24-hour period. In 2005, Disney’s Animal Kingdom composted more than 2,600 tons of animal waste.
• The Walt Disney Company as a whole has recycled more than 850,000 tons of materials since 1991.

Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR) leads Company recycling achievements with a 53 percent annual diversion rate. This success is driven by a commitment among Guests, Cast Members, and vendors to recycle materials of both low and high quality. Inside the parks, Guests dispense waste into multiple categories and then Custodial Cast Members sort the materials further before they are processed off-property. Oriental Land Company, the licensee that owns and operates TDR, has also established strong partnerships with local vendors to recycle nontraditional items such as paper trays and FASTPASS tickets. Additionally, nearly 500 tons of materials are processed into Refuse Plastic & Paper Fuel at a nearby facility. The fuel is later used to generate heat during the production of paper.