Environmental Sustainability

The gaming industry continues to be a leader in the broader business community in a number of areas, including environmental stewardship. Commercial casinos, resorts and manufacturers across the country have adopted environmentally sustainable programs to reduce their carbon footprints. Below are just a few of the successful conservation initiatives being undertaken at American Gaming Association member companies.

Boyd Gaming Corporation

From its new, environmentally friendly laundry facility, to extensive recycling programs at many of its properties, Boyd Gaming is committed to green initiatives. Examples of its efforts include:

Boyd Gaming Central Laundry Facility (Henderson, Nev.)

• Seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification, which would make it the first LEED-certified laundry facility in the country.
• Uses approximately 75 percent less water than other facilities of its size (60,000 pounds of laundry a day), saving about 22 million gallons of water annually.
• Uses 27 percent less electricity and 47 percent less natural gas than a standard laundry facility, reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent.
• Built using a variety of recycled or reused materials, including concrete, doors, fixtures and furniture.

Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino (Tunica, Miss.)

• Uses an innovative heat-recovery system that captures and recycles unused hot and cooled air.
• Cut back on the amount of energy used to heat water at the facility by keeping hot water reserves in solar holding tanks.
• Replaced incandescent lights on marquee with cold-cathode lights, reducing energy consumption by more than 75 percent.

Blue Chip Casino (Michigan City, Ind.)

• Switched from disposable glasses, plates and silverware to regular utensils, cutting down waste from the dining facilities.
• Replaced traditional drain cleaners with environmentally-friendly, bacterial-based cleaners.
• Sends lost cell phones to a local women’s shelter.

Caesers Entertainment

Caesars Entertainment has implemented 74 major conservation projects at its many properties in an effort to aggressively address its environmental responsibilities. These projects have: 

• Saved more than $10 million for the company to date.
• Reduced carbon dioxide emission by more than 155 million pounds annually, the equivalent of 81,170 roundtrip flights between New York to Los Angeles or 164,440 barrels of oil.
• Reduced sulfur dioxide emissions by 250,000 pounds annually; reduced nitrous oxide emissions by 200,000 pounds annually.

Some examples of its efforts include:

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas, Nev.)

• Installed a five-megawatt co-generation facility, which generates and uses electricity on-site and recaptures waste heat for hot water requirements.
  • Rated one of the cleanest burning natural gas co-generation facilities in the nation.
  • Reduces energy losses through transmission and markedly improved on-site energy efficiency.

Harrah’s Resort; Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & Casino; Showboat Atlantic City Hotel & Casino; and Bally’s Atlantic City (Atlantic City, N.J.) 

• Implemented a program to transport all food and oil waste to a local pig farm.
• Sends all trees and other plants that are no longer viable to a local composter.
• Installed Variable Frequency Drives and Direct Digital controls in the fan motors in parking garages, kitchens and elsewhere, saving 35.8 million tons of carbon dioxide.

International Game Technology

For 10 years, IGT has been committed to reducing the waste created at its production facilities. Some examples of its efforts include:

Reno Production Facility (Reno, Nev.)

• Recycles all electronic waste, compact fluorescent light blubs, paper, aluminum and other materials, which total more than 143,000 pounds to date.
• Adopted a new digital glass printing process that reduces silkscreen chemical use.

MGM Resorts International

MGM Resorts International is deeply committed to conservation, implementing sophisticated sustainability measures at its many properties to lessen its impact on the planet. Some examples of its efforts include:

CityCenter (Las Vegas, Nev.)

City Center—a multi-billion dollar development that includes resorts, a casino and retail space—seeks LEED certification, which would make it one of the largest projects in the country to be LEED-certified. CityCenter’s green building practices include:

• Using recycled materials from the imploded Boardwalk Hotel, which was cleared for the CityCenter site, or shipping them to other hotels that could use them.
• Designing windows, shades and roofs throughout CityCenter to deflect sunlight and reduce heat absorption.
• Installing low-flow faucets and showers, low-flush toilets and highly efficient irrigation systems at each CityCenter building.

Excalibur Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas, Nev.)

• Recycles 1 ton of glass bottles and at least 2 tons of cardboard every day.
• Replaced 2,000 individual guest room air conditioning units with more efficient packed terminal air conditioning units, resulting in significant energy savings.
• Replaced approximately 4,000 guest room shower heads with low-flow fixtures.

Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino (Las Vegas, Nev.)

• Implemented a recycling program at the convention center, and currently is recycling nearly 75 percent of all trade show exhibit hall waste.
• Installed 100 percent sustainable natural rubber for all back-of-house flooring.
• Offers sustainable menu items through its catering department.

These are just a sampling of initiatives taking place at these and other gaming companies throughout the industry. For more information about gaming industry environmental practices, please contact Holly Wetzel at the American Gaming Association at 202-552-2686.