COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

Our Approach to Environmental Management

We incorporate modern eco-friendly concepts into every aspects of our day-to-day operations and stay at the forefront of green innovation.We are the first in Macau to adopt an integrated approach to food waste management and remove single-use plastics from our takeaway packaging.

MGM COTAI attained the ISO 50001:2018 certification for effective energy management systems (“EnMS”) in 2020, making all of the Company’s properties ISO 50001 certified after MGM MACAU became the first integrated resort to receive ISO 50001 certification in 2016. Since its opening over two years ago, MGM COTAI has been operating in line with the Country’s goal of reaching peak emission by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. The property has conducted carbon audit every year and set itself ambitious targets against the goal. In terms of water saving endeavors, MGM COTAI recycles unconventional water at its own site and achieved a utilization ratio of up 12%. In 2020, MGM MACAU and MGM COTAI achieved 31% and 37% reduction respectively in energy use intensity in comparison to Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index and is working towards a target of achieving normalized energy saving of 2% per year.

MGM MACAU also won Gold Award in the “2019 Macao Green Hotel Award”, organized by the Environmental Protection Bureau (“DSPA”) in collaboration with the Macao Government Tourism Office (“MGTO”) in 2020. This accolade not only puts the property on a par with MGM COTAI which achieved gold in 2018, but also mirrors MGM China’s devotion to work with different communities under its ethos of “Create a Better Tomorrow Today.”

Emissions

In planning for the future, we recognize the potential threat of climate change to our business and the impact on the communities in which we operate. We are committed to reducing our emissions through our resource efficiency initiatives and fostering climate change awareness and action among our people. Further, we disclose our carbon footprint through the Carbon Disclosure Project (“CDP”) as part of our parent company, MGM Resorts International’s report. Through this reporting tool, we have considered the risks and opportunities presented by climate change, as well as future global trends that may affect our business.

With energy accounting for approximately 98% of our emissions, our carbon reduction strategy focuses on the rigorous reduction of our emissions from energy sources (see the below “Energy Performance” section for more detail on our efforts to reduce energy consumption, which will also reduce our emissions from energy sources).  In 2020, the total greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1¹ and Scope 2²) were 139,549⁴ tons of CO2e, a 23% decrease year-over-year, and 64% decrease from 2017.

Natural Resource Use

At MGM China, we are aware that our planet’s supply of natural resources is limited. With this in mind we are actively engaged and committed to resource conservation and efficiency.

Our Building Management System ensures energy and water consumption is closely monitored and energy and water-intensive equipment is effectively calibrated and maintained. We have also implemented a data management system which allows us to access real-time energy and metered water data in a central, web-based system.  Through this system, analytical tools allow us to perform complex analyses to help us better understand our impacts and areas for improvement, as well as to enable us to produce automated reports for distribution. 

Energy Performance

Our energy consumption in 2020 was 186,579⁶ kilo watt hours in thousands (“kWh in 000s”), which included purchased electricity, liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”), Natural Gas, diesel and gasoline. 

Energy type	Amount consumed in 2020 (kWh in 000s)	Energy Unit Consumed Per m2 (Intensity)	Emissions (tons of CO2e)4
Purchased electricity	169,084	0.289	133,746
LPG	11,026	0.019	2,446
Natural Gas	4,670	0.011	932
Gasoline	680	0.001	190
Diesel	1,119	0.002	278

 

Year-over-year, we have decreased our energy consumption by 12% and 28% since our 2017 baseline³. For MGM Macau, we reduced energy consumption by 18% from our 2017 baseline³. Targeted retrofitting of our properties with more energy efficient equipment and focusing on employee behavior change in favor of energy conservation will continue to be areas of focus.

 

Water Performance

Water scarcity is a pressing and urgent issue for many countries around the world and it is therefore everyone’s responsibility to ensure this vital resource is conserved.

In 2020, we continued to conserve our water usage through our ongoing program of upgrading our fixtures and fittings (for example, shower heads and faucets) with low-flow alternatives, as well as adjusting our flow rates where possible. Throughout the year, we also continued to increase the scope of our water recycling program which serves to recycle the condensate from our air handling units, as well as the cooling tower bleed-off, to be reused for flushing. In 2020, we consumed 1,061,338 m³ of water, 29% decrease (all properties) from 2019 and 65% decrease since our 2017 baseline³

Waste Management

We recognize the importance of responsible waste management, and endeavor to reduce waste (hazardous and non-hazardous) sent to the landfill and incineration by managing our resources wisely.  In 2020, the Group generated 2,013 tons of waste for MGM MACAU and 2,506 tons of waste for MGM COTAI, 51% decrease for MGM Macau and 52% decrease for MGM COTAI year over year.

Typical non-hazardous waste includes organic waste, plastics, metals, paper & cardboard, fabrics and textiles.  Common hazardous wastes include diesel, compressed gases, oil-based paint, cooking oil, solvent adhesives, dry clean oil, acidic/alkaline and chlorine solutions (for pool water treatment), and batteries. Our hazardous waste management procedure ensures that such wastes are used up or returned to suppliers for safe disposal. Items such as cooking oil, toner cartridges and rechargeable batteries are recycled. In 2020, 0.002% of waste, or 9 tons, was hazardous waste, no change compare to 2019.

Green Building and Biodiversity

MGM COTAI is honored to receive a Three-star Green Building Operation Label, the highest rating under the "China Green Building Label" certification scheme, from the China Green Building and Energy Saving (Macau) Association.

The acclaim is a proud addition to its attainment of a Three-star Green Building Design Label in 2018, which made it the first mega complex in Macau to receive the highest rating in design category. With double honors in its tally, MGM COTAI has become the only mega complex and hotel in Macau to gain three-star certification in both Green Building Design and Operation Label. The achievements have also brought MGM COTAI the glory of being the first hotel in the Greater Bay Area (“GBA”) and second in Greater China to receive the certifications.

Since its opening over two years ago, MGM COTAI has been operating in tune with China's policies on green buildings. In line with the Country's goal of reaching peak emission by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, MGM COTAI has conducted carbon audit every year and set itself ambitious targets against the goal. In terms of water saving endeavors, the property recycles unconventional water at its own site and achieved a utilization ratio of up 12%.  In 2019, MGM COTAI achieved a 25% reduction in energy use intensity in comparison to Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index. The property is working towards a target of achieving normalized energy saving of 2% per year.

A keen supporter of green management, MGM China has incorporated eco-friendly elements into its properties from planning, design to daily operation. At both the Grande Praça of MGM MACAU and the Spectacle of MGM COTAI, guests may immerse themselves into the beauty of nature with a great dose of natural lightings through the glass roofs. The surrounding plant walls in the Spectacle also act as an indoor air purifier and air-cooler to optimize the indoor-nature experience. MGM is the first integrated resort operator in Macau to abandon all single-use plastics in takeaway packaging in 2018.  Moreover, as a continuous effort to phase out the provision of plastic-bottled water at its properties, 2020 has seen 60.3% more reduction (2.4 million of bottles) as compared to when the initiative first rolled out in 2018. We have also implemented 7 new beverage stations at the gaming floor to further bolster the effort to eliminate bottled water.  On top of winning golds in "Macao Green Hotel Award", both MGM MACAU and MGM COTAI attained the ISO 50001:2018 certification for effective energy management systems (“EnMS”). MGM COTAI is also a recipient of the ISO14001:2015 Environmental Management System Certification. Its commitment to green buildings were recognized by major accolades, including a merit honor at Green Building Award, Asia Pacific Innovation Award from International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and ASHRAE Technology Award—Honorable Mention Winner in both Region (APAC) and Society (Global) Level.

 

Notes:

1   Scope 1 emissions include: emissions from stationary combustion sources, such as boilers, emergency generators and fuel stoves; mobile combustion sources, such as company-owned and leased fleet        vehicles, including cars, limousines, shuttle buses, etc; and fugitive emissions which are the hydrofluorocarbons (“HFC”) used in refrigeration and AC equipment.

²   Scope 2 emissions comprise emissions from the generation of purchased electricity.

³   Our baseline was updated for energy, water and waste to 2017 for greater consistency and relevance.

⁴    The emission figure is provided by third party to reflect more accurate energy consumption.

⁵    Gross Floor Area of MGM COTAI has been updated in the calculation of intensity for 2020.

⁶   An updated conversion figure was adopted in 2020 for converting energy unit of natural gas.