Las Vegas Sands Takes Action on Climate Change with New Set of Sustainability Goals

LAS VEGAS, August 9, 2017 /3BL Media/ – Sands ECO360, the global corporate sustainability program of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) has released its 2016 environmental report.  The report marks the company’s first annual measurement against its revised sustainability goals, building upon the success and key learnings of original targets set in 2011 and reported on through 2015.

Since Sands ECO360’s inception, LVS has established its sustainability strategy around four key pillars to achieve the greatest impact, including Green Buildings, Environmentally Responsible Operations, Green Meetings and Events, and Stakeholder Engagement.  While these pillars remain the core of Sands ECO360, LVS used two guiding principles to set its sustainability goals for the next five years: the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and science-based targets methodology.  The SDGs are a set of 17 goals adopted by world leaders in September 2015 to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change.  The company’s new targets address emissions reduction (SDG 7), water conservation (SDG 6) and waste management (SDG 12), supported by a commitment to one million Sands ECO360 actions.  To establish meaningful emissions reduction targets, LVS used science-based targets methodology which provides organizations with a clearly defined pathway to future-proof growth by specifying how much and how quickly they need to reduce their GHG emissions.  LVS is the first Integrated Resort company to have them approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.

“In 2016, we embarked on the next phase of our global sustainability strategy, setting ambitious new five-year goals and leveraging all that we have learned on our journey to become a leader in sustainable development and operations,” said Katarina Tesarova, vice president of global sustainability for LVS.  “While LVS has made sustainability a key priority since 2007, in many ways, this is a new beginning as well.  We are challenging ourselves to improve our results even further, and contribute to the momentum behind the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Science Based Targets initiative.”

A key milestone for Sands ECO360 in 2016 was the opening of The Parisian Macao.  This iconic property hosts a number of innovative features that make it LVS’ most sustainable and energy-efficient development to date.  From revamping its lighting design to allow 100 percent use of LED bulbs to installing two sets of pipes to prepare for the future availability of reclaimed grey water, environmental stewardship was a guiding principle throughout the entire project, both in its structure and operations.  At The Parisian Macao, energy performance is 25% better and water consumption is 40% less than the industry benchmarks. 

While The Parisian Macao represents the pinnacle of LVS’ sustainability achievements to date, the company reached a number of other significant milestones in 2016, including:

• Completed 84 different energy efficiency projects across LVS’ portfolio of properties worldwide, expected to save more than 31 million kilowatt hours of electricity use.
• Achieved a combined 31 percent waste diversion rate globally.  In particular, LVS successfully hosted Asia’s first-ever zero waste to landfill event at its Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore on behalf of the 5^th Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable Development.
• Excluding the newly opened St. Regis and The Parisian Macao, LVS reduced its absolute emissions by 9.1 percent, water consumption by 5.7 percent and electricity consumption by 4.4 percent from 2015 across all existing properties.
• The company’s 50,000 team members, along with green meeting clients, completed more than 260,000 actions inspired by Sands ECO360 in 2016, such as carpooling to work, installing water efficient fixtures at home and building hygiene kits with repurposed amenities from LVS resorts for nonprofit partner Clean the World to support hygiene-vulnerable populations around the world.

LVS has continued to earn extensive recognition for achievements from external stakeholders, such as its inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) North America, and earning a position on CDP’s Climate A List.  Other awards LVS earned in 2016 include Macao Green Hotel Gold Award for Sands Cotai Central in Macao, LEED Gold^® for Building Operations and Maintenance recertification for the Sands Expo and the Congress Center at The Venetian and The Palazzo Las Vegas, and The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)’s Grand Award for Environment for Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

To obtain additional information and to download the 2016 Sands ECO360 Environmental Report in its entirety, please visit http://www.sands.com/sands-eco-360/our-vision.html. 

About Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) is the world's pre-eminent developer and operator of world-class Integrated Resorts that feature luxury hotels; best-in-class gaming; retail; dining and entertainment; Meetings, Incentives, Convention and Exhibition (MICE) facilities; and many other business and leisure amenities.  We pioneered the MICE-driven Integrated Resort, a unique, industry-leading and extremely successful model that serves both the business and leisure tourism markets.

Our properties include The Venetian and The Palazzo resorts and Sands Expo in Las Vegas, Sands Bethlehem in Eastern Pennsylvania, and the iconic Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Through majority ownership in Sands China Ltd., LVS owns a portfolio of properties on the Cotai Strip in Macao, including The Venetian Macao, The Plaza and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Sands Cotai Central and The Parisian Macao, as well as the Sands Macao on the Macao Peninsula.

LVS is dedicated to being a good corporate citizen, anchored by the core tenets of delivering a great working environment for our more than 50,000 team members worldwide, driving impact through its Sands Cares corporate giving program and leading innovation with the company’s award-winning Sands ECO360 global sustainability program. To learn more, please visit www.sands.com.

Contact:
Kristin Koca
Kristin.koca@sands.com