Marketing and Comms
Caesars Reports Strides in Energy & Waste Reductions, Commitment to 'Vibrant Communities'

In 2012, Caesars Entertainment Corporation achieved a total savings of roughly 750 million kWh since its benchmark year in 2007, representing an 8.5 percent absolute reduction in electricity and gas. The savings equal enough energy to power a community of more than 30,000 during this period.

Additional details of the company’s efforts and commitment to enhance the environment, employee well-being, guest experience and economic development are available in Caesars’ fourth CSR and Sustainability Report, Vibrant Communities, released today.

The report is the first from a U.S. company to be written in accordance with the Core level of GRI’s G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. In addition, Caesars submitted its report to the GRI for the Materiality Matters check, and GRI confirmed that all materiality disclosures are correctly located in the report as required by the G4 Guidelines.

“We’re grateful for the recognition we’ve received for our CSR and sustainability initiatives, which are integrated into the way we operate our company,” said Gary Loveman, Caesars Entertainment Chairman, CEO and president. “But we’ve even more proud of the effort our employees have made help us achieve the progress we’ve made.”

Report highlights include:

• Environmental Stewardship:

  • Completion of 37 corporate efficiency projects with an investment of $3.5 million delivering nearly 24 million kWh energy savings per year.
  • 24 percent waste diversion from landfill, measured for the first time.

• Commitment to employees:

• 41 percent of women in management roles

• More than 3.6 million hours invested in employee training.

• Commitment to guests:

  • Increase in customer satisfaction scores 2.56 percent, reaching the highest satisfaction levels in our history.
  • In 2012, 85 percent of Caesars gaming revenues were related to customers’ specific preferences, enabling Caesars to align special rewards with what customers wanted most. The hotel industry average was 56 percent.

• Commitment to communities:

  • Caesars takes a public stand on important issues to support vibrant communities and social justice, including supporting comprehensive immigration reform that both advances border security as well as streamlines the immigration process for those who are willing to work hard and complete the legal process.
  • In 2012, in the U.S. alone, Caesars employees donated more than 130,000 hours to support local communities.

“It’s been a journey, but adhering to the G4 framework helped us identify and quantify the issues that matter most to our stakeholders and to our business, and we strive to strategically connect our sustainability efforts to the most critical global issues,” said Gwen Migita, Caesars Entertainment’s VP of Sustainability and Community Affairs. “We hope that reporting our performance on issues related to our employees, the community, our guests and the environment offer a clear view as to how we conduct business … and we welcome feedback.”

The gaming-resort giant continually strives for progress in the CSR space, particularly when it comes to its employees. The company has not only made strides in engaging its employees in its sustainability efforts, it has implemented several employee-driven initiatives.

And for the seventh consecutive year, the gaming/entertainment chain recently earned a perfect rating from the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Corporate Equality Index.

“The purpose of a report such as this is to increase transparency,” said Chris Perceval, director of corporate relations with the World Resources Institute. “As a major player in the gaming industry, it’s imperative that Caesars not only illustrate but also measure its ethical, social, economic and environmental impact from the inside out. Vibrant Communities offers a credible and realistic view of Caesars’ challenges, progress and future targets. We look forward to seeing where the company goes from here.”

Caesars Entertainment Corporation is the world's most diversified casino-entertainment company. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, 75 years ago, Caesars has grown through development of new resorts, expansions and acquisitions and now operates casinos on four continents. The company's resorts operate primarily under the Caesars®, Harrah's® and Horseshoe® and London Clubs International family of casinos.

Speaking of hotel chains, last month Hilton Worldwide revealed in its its 2012-2013 corporate responsibility report that it had saved nearly $250M from energy efficiency projects over the past four years. Since 2009, the hospitality company reduced energy use by 12.2 percent and carbon output by 12.8 percent. In the U.S., Hilton purchased more than 450 million kilowatt hours of renewable power through December 31, 2012 — enough to meet 94 percent of the annual electricity use in its domestic-owned hotels.