Adding a green accent to the Magic Kingdom
Print Edition
VISITORS to Shanghai Disney Resort will be bowled over by the magical aura and thrilling adventures that greet them. What many may not appreciate so readily is the resort’s commitment to preserving the natural environment.
For Li Hui, 31, that’s the main task. “We want the resort to become a showcase for environmental development in the city,” said the project development manager for environmental planning for Walt Disney Imagineering Shanghai.
As such, Li and her team are implementing state-of-the-art energy-saving and recycling systems in the resort.
Li said her job has been twofold. First, the team has been required to assess the environmental impact of all resort construction and will continue monitoring that impact after Shanghai Disney Resort opens. Secondly, the team is developing many environmental initiatives for the operating phase focused on energy saving and emissions reduction.
Shanghai Disney Resort has incorporated environment protection into all aspects of the resort development and future operations. For instance, a new technology to heat and cool the resort has been adopted in the project infrastructure development phase. By using waste energy from power generation and converting it in a Combined Cooling and Heating Power Plant, the overall energy efficiency of the resort has been increased by a factor of three, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from resort operation by 60 percent.
After obtaining a master’s degree in environment sciences at Tongji University, Li joined a local company involved in environmental, health and safety work.
“Most of my former classmates who wanted to do environment-related work usually had to go to governmental departments for jobs,” Li said. “The options to work for companies were not so plentiful.”
Disney gave Li that opportunity three years ago, and she accepted the job enthusiastically.
“Unlike many other companies, Disney had specific environment goals on various aspects including water and energy saving, and trash recycling,” she said. “Those guidelines extend to all its businesses.”
Indeed, Shanghai Disney Resort will be a paragon of environmental responsibility.
“The toilets in our hotels are all government-certificated water-saving models, and other water-saving appliances will be installed throughout the resort,” she said. “There will be strict recycling classification garbage bins, both for employees and visitors.”
In fact, the recycling bins in the resort won’t be the kind you see on the street, Li said.
“Shanghai already has recycling classification bins on the streets, but they’re all open and most people just drop litter at random,” said Li. “Our bins will be closed, with openings in the shape of the trash the bins are designed to take.”
For example, bins for beverage cans and bottles will have round openings at the top, while those for paper will have long, slim mouths.
Li said her visits to other Disney parks and resorts around the world impressed upon her the importance of teaching children about environmental protection.
“With many Disney programs designed to connect children with nature, children learn to appreciate the natural world around them and develop an interest in preserving it,” she said. “We would like to see these kinds of programs implemented in China, and plan to lead by example.”
Working for Disney has certainly been exciting and our team is commited to deliver the best Disney environmental practices here in China, Li said.
“When we went to the US for an annual environment summit with colleagues from other Disney parks and resorts, the high expectations for Shanghai Disney Resort were laid out,” she said.
“They were so excited to share their best practices and want us to absorb all the positive experiences of existing resorts and then go beyond that and create a new benchmark for Shanghai. It is a great challenge — one we are prepared to meet.”
Li said the Disney brand is so well-known and respected that family and friends are awed by her job.
“I suddenly have become very popular in my social circle,” she said. “Some old friends and acquaintances that I had lost contact with for years have reappeared over the Internet to ask me about my job.”
Q: Have you ever visited a Disney theme park? If so, what were your impressions?
A: I have been to Hong Kong Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. The park that impressed me the most was Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando. From an open safari vehicle, I got very close to wildlife, including lions and tigers. I came back and told my family about it, and they could scarcely believe the experience I recounted.
Q: What’s the most valuable thing you learned working on the Disney project?
A: The company has given me the opportunity to meet so many different people. I work with government officials, non-government organizations, primary school headmasters and, of course, environment industry leaders.
Q: What has the Disney project meant to your industry? Can you give some examples?
A: In China, the environment industry is new and rising. That means it is still underdeveloped. At present, we have a lot of ideas about things like garbage recycling, but it is often very difficult to find suppliers to fill our requirements. I think the Disney experience will help spur development in the industry and help cultivate more domestic suppliers.
Q: Why do you think the Disney project is important for Shanghai?
A: It is a big project promoting tourism in the city, and I think it will also establish a new and higher standard of services.
Q: What do you think makes Disney so special in its industry?
A: The company combines the stories it creates with the resorts it constructs. When you go to a Disney resort, you meet the characters you love and you are submerged in their magical world. It makes for a very special and unique experience.
Also, Disney operates on a corporate culture of freedom and imagination. Employees are encouraged to be innovative and develop their own creative ideas.
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