ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Since 2009, Disney has operated under a long-term vision to achieve zero waste in our operations. We have made significant progress towards this goal including through a series of waste management initiatives to reduce, reuse, recycle, donate, and encourage behavior change initiatives with our Guests and employees, in order to divert as much material as possible from landfills. In fact, we sent less waste to landfills in 2019 than we did in 2014, despite the tremendous growth in our operations over that same time period.

While we are proud of the progress we have made, we are committed to doing more. We will work to achieve zero waste to landfill for our wholly owned and operated parks and resorts by 2030. We have a responsibility to get ever closer to our zero waste ambition in order to protect the ecosystems and communities that host us, as well as do our part to minimize our global environmental footprint. This will take the dedicated effort of our Cast Members and Guests alike to get us one step closer to a world without waste.

The Walt Disney Company brings stories and characters to life through innovative and engaging products from toys and t-shirts, to books and games. We are committed to responsibly reducing the environmental impact of materials used in the creation and packaging of these items

By evaluating the impact we can have across our product portfolio, we identified a set of materials that are consistently used in high volumes and across a number of different product categories and/or are known to have significant environmental impacts associated with their production and use: forest products including paper, wood and palm; textiles; and plastics. To address the impacts of these materials, we are setting the following goals:

Paper, Wood and Palm Oil

Disney consumer products will meet the following criteria by 2030:

• All paper used as a primary material in our branded packaging and products will contain 100% recycled content, or be from a verified or certified sustainable source.
• All wood used as a primary material in Disney-branded products will be from recycled, certified, or sustainable sources.
• All palm oil and palm kernel oil used as an ingredient in Disney-branded products will be from certified sustainable sources.

Textiles

100% of our branded product textiles will contain recycled or certified sustainably sourced content, or be made from lower impact alternatives by 2030.

Plastics

Beginning in 2018, we set a series of commitments to eliminate several single-use plastic items in our owned and operated locations across the globe. Since then, we have eliminated over 200 million plastics straws and stirrers, removed all polystyrene cups, minimized plastic merchandise bags, and begun to reduce plastics in guest rooms by replacing disposable toiletries with bulk amenities.

Now, we are going a step further. Our global approach to plastics will continue to follow our established zero waste hierarchy: to seek alternatives, reduce, reuse, and recycle, where appropriate.

• 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.

Our company is also committed to working with facilities that track their environmental impact, with the aim of minimizing our environmental footprint everywhere that Disney branded products are made.

Our goal is for all facilities to participate in the Higg index or maintain a sustainable manufacturing certification by 2030.

In collaboration with our various design teams across the company, and leveraging the creative expertise of our Disney Imagineers, we have established a new, rigorous set of design standards that will guide the development of all new building projects. Whether it’s an office building, resort, film stage, or attraction, we will design all new construction with a focus on minimizing waste, water, and energy in the construction and use of the building.

• To minimize emissions of new projects, our buildings will be designed to near net zero –maximizing energy efficiency, electrification to reduce fuel use, and on-site renewables.
• New projects will minimize water consumption through efficiency measures, water capture and reuse, and maximizing use of non-potable sources.
• New projects will be designed for zero waste operations, including planning for reuse where possible, particularly in restaurants and kitchens, and providing dedicated areas for waste sorting.
• All new projects in the U.S. and Europe will meet or exceed 90% diversion of construction waste.

As one example, our new corporate campus in New York City, which includes more than 1 million square feet of office and production space, is being designed to LEED Platinum standards as well as being evaluated for employee wellness certifications. The project is being designed as an all-electric building, which will be achieved through the use of high performance facades, on-site solar plant, waste heat recovery systems, demand control, and electric heat pumps. Significant water reduction is being achieved through low-flow fixtures, on-site water capture and reuse for industrial purposes and irrigation. The project is also designed to support zero waste operations and will achieve minimum 95% construction waste diversion.