Casino Hotel honored for environmental efforts
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Saratoga Casino Hotel is making its corner of the world a bit more environmentally-friendly through increased recycling, energy reductions and a new hydropower agreement.
Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, recognized the firm Friday with a special proclamation, in hopes that other local companies will adopt similar practices.
“I know these are not inexpensive commitments you’re making,” she told Alex Tucker, Casino Hotel general manager.
The hotel opened on June 30, 2016, adjacent to an existing casino and harness track. The entire facility, on 180-acres, employs 615 people and hosts about 2 million visitors annually.
In early 2017, the firm established a Sustainability Committee comprised of more than a dozen employees in various departments. Several steps have been taken during the past year to make the business a more “green” operation.
More than a dozen large, easily-identifiable recycling receptacles were placed for employees’ use. This resulted in a 20 percent increase in recycled materials, while the property’s trash output declined more than 12 metric tons.
Also, as part of an ongoing project begun in 2012, more than 9,000 lights and fixtures throughout the property have been converted to LED lighting, reducing annual kilowatt hours by an estimated 11 percent.
In yet another effort, last fall the casino initiated a 20-year agreement with a small hydropower plant in Essex County. The plant’s generation offsets a significant portion of the casino’s electricity consumption, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 36,000 tons over the life of the agreement.
“We’re looking for other opportunities and avenues to explore to be more environmentally-friendly,” Tucker said.
This includes applying for the recently-created New York Green Business Program enacted by the state, additional the waste-to-recycling improvements, and making electric vehicle charging stations available.
Woerner, an assembly Agriculture Committee member, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo is a proponent of food waste-to-energy initiatives, which the Casino Hotel might consider in partnership with other local hotels and restaurants.
However, the Legislature would likely have to approve rate structure incentives to make such efforts more attractive financially, she said.
Food waste-to-energy facilities would be similar in concept to the digesters some farms have built that convert cow manure to methane gas.