Green Cinemas: MEDIA Salles’ interactive map presents new initiatives for self-producing electricity and reducing consumption and waste
by Elisabetta Brunella

Since 2021, the interactive map with which MEDIA Salles has been documenting the spread of measures adopted by European cinemas aiming at increasing their compatibility with the environment continued to expand.

In the new version - presenting 56 pivotal experiences - published on the occasion of the Miskolc Cinefest, the most important international festival in Hungary, the “new entries” show innovative pracices adopted in Spain, France, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. We are presenting here some of them, united by the objectives of self-producing energy and reducing consumption and waste.

In Barcelona, in the famous Gracia district, the five-screen site that goes by the name of Cinemes Verdi and enjoys a flattering reputation for the quality of its programming, has managed to cover 60% of its energy needs thanks to the installation of photovoltaic panels.

This important intervention, adopted in the aftermath of the dark period of the pandemic, extends the list of measures implemented to reduce the environmental impact of the structure on several fronts.

This has led to lower water consumption thanks to self-regulating taps as well as a reduction in chemical products used for cleaning through atomization splinkers, up to a significant saving of paper. To this end, special containers have been installed to facilitate recycling as well as LCD screens in the foyer that avoid the use of paper posters. The incentive to purchase electronic tickets goes along the same lines.

From the heart of a city with a centuries-old history like Barcelona we move to the United Kingdom, to Milton Keynes, 90 kilometers from the center of London. This “new town”, born in 1967 from the merger of several small municipalities, has since then experienced a huge expansion that has led it to more than quadruple its inhabitants and has become famous among operators in the film industry for having hosted what is traditionally considered the first European multiplex.

This is “The Point” complex, equipped with ten screens, opened in 1985 and managed until 1989 by AMC. Today, after the decline of the historic multiplex that began in the new millennium and culminated with its closure in 2015, two large sites operate in Milton Keynes.

Among these, the Odeon Milton Keynes Stadium uses an impressive installation of solar panels, which cover a surface area of 286 square meters and provide the eleven-screen multiplex with 85% of the energy needed for lighting.

This innovation, as well as a rigorous recycling policy, which allows for the recovery of 90% of waste, and the commitment to save water in toilets - reduced by 40% -, are part of the strategy adopted by the Odeon group, active in 9 European countries, to lower the environmental impact of its activities, encouraging suppliers and spectators to adopt practices and behaviors more compatible with the protection of the planet's resources.