The Facilities Engineering department is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of park buildings and infrastructure, in addition to environmental initiatives such as water and energy conservation and chemical management. If we view our theme parks as one big “town”, our job can be said to take on the roles of everything from construction companies, electricity and gas utility companles, to water authorities. Our wastewater treatment plant, for example, has a throughput equivalent to that for a town of 100,000 people and some 60 percent of the water used inside our parks is recycled at this facility.

As for our energy conservation strategies, we have been incorporating efficient equipment that enhances energy conservation since the opening of Tokyo Disneyland. Examples include adopting a central energy plant that enables centralized control of heating sources and allows us to enhance the energy efficiency of our air-conditioning systems. We also use compressed natural gas (CNG), a green fuel, to power our attractions and employ various strategies aimed at reducing our consumption of electricity.

Tokyo Disney Resort began generating solar energy in fiscal 2008 and by fiscal 2010 was generating sufficient power to light up our nighttime parades. To further the conservation of energy, we have adopted an Energy Management System (EMS) that allows us to determine the amount of energy being consumed by each of our facilities, and are now converting to light-emitting diodes (LED) for indoor and outdoor lighting.

I believe that, in addition to safety and security, our theme parks should be inclusive to both people and the natural environment. With this in mind we will continue to aim to sustain a positive environmental legacy.

Tokyo Disney Resort welcomes over 25 million Guests each year and there is no way to avoid generating waste. It is our job to explore and introduce new ways of minimizing waste and to make an effort to recycle while maintaining service excellence.

We see our theme parks as a “town” and as such we generate a wider variety of waste than most businesses. We are constantly looking for ways to recycle. Seventy percent of waste formerly destined to be thrown away is now recycled. Currently, close to 100 percent of the food waste disposed of in our theme parks is recycled.

Guests are becoming increasingly green-minded and some have pointed out negligence in the area of trash separation within the parks. In reality, we attempt to keep our requests to Guests to a minimum to allow them to enjoy the wonderful world of our parks. Cast Members sort all waste manually after it is collected. Moreover, the methods used to separate trash vary from municipality to region, and since our goal is to increase recycling efficiency, the sorting methods we employ are fairly complex. The sorting work is carried out by trained Cast Members to ensure proper sorting, which means that we can improve the quality of our recyclables and raise Cast Member awareness of this important issue.

We will continue to develop awareness-raising activities for the OLC Group with the goal of increasing employee consciousness on the importance of our recycling initiatives.