Silver Sevens, looking to limit its environmental footprint, instituted a conservation and sustainability program last year.
The first six months of the effort led to the recycling of 111 tons of the 575 tons of waste produced, according to data provided by Silver Sevens. The program is expected to net a saving of about $25,000 annually.
“A year-and-a-half ago our CEO, Michael Silberling, asked us to as a company to explore recycling and what we can do as a company to recycle,” said Dick Moskal, Affinity Gaming vice president of purchasing.
In what started as a pilot program, the success has led to the project becoming an ongoing operation. They are using RenuOil, a locally based waste management company which works with the hotel industry to recycle. Some properties on the Strip have a similar program.
Employees of RenuOil, aided by Silver Sevens, hand sort trash collected throughout the property and throw the items in the appropriate bin. The separate glass, plastic, tin or aluminum into different containers. Cardboard is made into bails.
“Many of those items we sell to go against the cost of the employees to do the recycling for us,” Moskal said.
The monetary benefit is produced by selling the recycled waste instead of it ending up on the landfill. In the initial six months of the product was comprised of 23.27 tons of cardboard, 7,281 pounds of plastic, 2,619 pounds of aluminum, 19 tons of glass, 1,326 pounds of tin.
Additionally, 2,187 gallons of used cooking oil and 42 tons of organic food waste were diverted from the landfill.
Also, having less pulls per week on the trash compactor and less garbage pickup also saves money.
“That (profits) will continue to increase as our employees get a better understanding of how the system works,” Moskal said. “
The program resulted in Silver Sevens has reducing their carbon footprint by conserving 59 tons of carbon dioxide, 249,036 kilowatt hours of energy, and 194,400 gallons of water.
“The corporate responsibility that has been set up by our CEO is we want to be as kind as we can be to the environment,” he said. “We will continue these programs to fulfill these responsibilities that we feel we have to the environment.”
After the success of the program at Silver Sevens, Moskal said Affinity Gaming is looking to expand it to its other southern Nevada properties.
“We’re now looking to expand the program out to Primm,” he said. “Primm produces a lot more waste than Silver Sevens because we have three properties (Primm Valley Resort, Whiskey Pete’s and Buffalo Bills) out there.”