Does Disney Recycle?

[amycakes]

When I was in Disney they did not seem to have separate trash cans for recycling at the parks. Do they do it on their own or not at all?

Amy

P.S. I did notice one in the hotel room.

 

[bradk]

they most certainly do have separate bins for bottles.. all over.

of course this relies on guests doing the dirty work. which often doesn't work.

trash is sorted backstage.

disney claims more than 850,000 tons has been recycled by them since 1991 company wide.

ETA: you can read a lot about disney's conservation practices here: http://corporate.disney.go.com/environmentality

 

[amycakes]

Wow..I had know idea!! We will have to keep a more watchful eye... I am so glad that they do... Thanks for the link!!

Amy

 

[TLinden16]

When I went on a backstage tour a few years ago, they told us that the garbage is sorted by hand. I wouldn't want that job!

 

[Princess MaryPoppins]

Disney also sends a lot of food not used each day to homeless shelters (not stuff that has already been cooked and is warm though). They also harvest the left overs which do not go to shelters!

 

[bradk]

except the muffin tops

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

Disney also sends a lot of food not used each day to homeless shelters (not stuff that has already been cooked and is warm though). They also harvest the left overs which do not go to shelters!

Actually, they donate only on the weekends. The other nights the food is thrown away into food only cans and from there who knows.

 

[RllngRckBrw]

I had also heard somewhere that the food scraps were used for feeding local pig farms. I have no legitimacy to this so it is only a ROUMOR but somewhere I do remember hearing this.

 

[Orlando313]

That is so funny that this topic is here because that just came up in our discussion while we were at MK tonight. We started looking around to see if they had any of the seperate cans for recycling, because Universal has them everywhere. We only found ONE by Thunder Mountain, and we were all over the park tonight. We came to the conclusion that they MUST sort everything because it would be a mighty waste to throw all of those plastic bottles and paper products away.

 

[tink too]

except the muffin tops

That's so true - guests are expected to take them home with them!

 

[perkinsrose]

Something that bothers me is the kids meals trays at counter service. They're cute black mickey-shaped plastic trays. Kids love them BUT so sad to think about how many end up in landfills each year. Seems like something that could easily be made recyclable...

 

[Harambe]

The recycle bins aren't plentiful enough for me! DD is a major "greenie" and would not let us throw out our water/Coke bottles until we found the recycle bins. So I'd be holding all these empties while the fam was riding rides. WDW needs to put more recycle barrels out (but it is great that they have them).

 

[mrzrich]

The recycle bins aren't plentiful enough for me! DD is a major "greenie" and would not let us throw out our water/Coke bottles until we found the recycle bins. So I'd be holding all these empties while the fam was riding rides. WDW needs to put more recycle barrels out (but it is great that they have them).

Tell DD that you can throw your bottles in ANY trash can at WDW. Disney hand sorts ALL the trash. It is true. I saw the building where they do this on the backstage tour. Disney has won awards for its recycling efforts.

 

[KPLC]

The only place I saw the bins really visible was in the food court at POFQ - even then tho' they were not next to the garbage bins but near the door at the exit.

 

[disnut8]

There are a few recycling cans around but they aren't as plentiful as the regular ones. But Disney does recycle everything they possibly can.

The "problem" with recycling only bins is that many people don't limit their trash to just plastics or aluminum. They throw everything in there. If it's handy, trash goes in it. So the separate bins are defeated in their purpose. We just went to a company picnic and no one was using the recycling bin for the aluminum beer cans. Everyone was just tossing them into the regular trash. It's human nature to take the easy way out.

Personally, I would like to see Disney World put signs on all their trash cans telling people about their recycling policy. So people could throw everything in there and not worry about it.

But there is one positive thing. At least we are talking about people throwing things away and not just dropping them on the ground.

 

[jamesmommy]

Something that bothers me is the kids meals trays at counter service. They're cute black mickey-shaped plastic trays. Kids love them BUT so sad to think about how many end up in landfills each year. Seems like something that could easily be made recyclable...

Since they do sort and recycle, I would think that those would be recycled as well. Well.....except for the ones we bring home and reuse, they hold up very well .

 

[mickeywho?]

except the muffin tops

Umph! You made me spit out my coffee!!

 

[mickeymouse1017]

In the Fort Wilderness Campground, they have bins available in the camp loops for recycling paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum. It is very nice since it saves down on our trash in the motor home.

 

[littlele]

Around here, recycling is definately the norm, so it was hard to search high and low for the darn recycling bins that were few and far between. I did not like carting around water bottles, etc. in search of a recycling bin.

Now that I hear that they pull those out of the trash anyhow, I am still annoyed! So I carted those around, sought out bins, and didn't need to?

I agree with the PP who said to just do away with the recycling bins, if in fact, Disney does just sort everything anyhow.

 

[HallGirl]

There are recycle cans all over, but I don't think there are enough of them. I worked at MK so I know for sure the trash is sorted there. The recycle cans have to be sorted too since whoever takes the recycle dumpsters won't take it if there is trash in it. (it amazes me when people try to put regular trash in those and they don't fit because the holes are bottle shaped)

On the other hand, most CMs will only take out the bottles/cans/etc. that are at the top and dump the stuff at the bottom with the rest of the trash. It is kind of a pain to dig out all of the bottles. It might make it easier with more recycle cans. I think the mentality about finding a recycle can is the same as with a trash can (the idea is that people only go so far with the trash before giving up on finding a trash can and dumping it on the ground, hence the distance between the trash cans in the parks.) I tend to give up on finding the recycle cans (though now I know where they are at MK) and throw my empty bottles in the trash cans.