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Ongoing updates and improvements

Environmental Management

People are having a devastating impact on the planet...

Habitat destruction, pollution and the pressures of growing populations are causing flooding, extinctions and climate change. Environmental damage can affect the species and habitats we are trying to save, so we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously.

Wild Planet Trust employs dedicated Environmental Officers at both Newquay Zoo and Paignton Zoo who are currently working towards gaining ISO 14001 accreditation, the international standard for Environmental Management Systems.

What do we do?

At Paignton Zoo we understand the direct impact business practice can have on the environment and in particular the ultimate effect this has on the habitat of many animals. Therefore sustainability is naturally at the heart of our business and we are passionate about highlighting environmental issues to our visitors though our actions.

Our commitment to sustainable practices has helped Paignton Zoo drive down our water and energy consumption, and ultimately our utility costs. However we will never be complacent and seek to continually reduce our environmental impacts.

Internally we have undertaken the following to reduce our energy consumption and demonstrate best practice to others by:

  • Recycling any piece of rubbish that we can.
  • Only using and selling products that contain sustainable palm oil, from accredited sources.
  • Eliminating the sale of plastic drinks bottles across the whole zoo.
  • Only using packaging that is compostable – our cups, straws and other catering items may look plastic, but they are in fact made from PLA, a compostable bioplastic derived from natural plant sugars!
  • Removing plastic sweet wrappers in our gift shop for biodegradable alternatives.
  • Installing heat pumps to reduce our energy consumption in keeping exotic animals.
  • Using solar panels in our Amphibian Ark exhibit and restaurant, which generates 50% of the electricity to operate the buildings and a solar thermal array generates 80% of the hot water need for the restaurant.