600,000 bottles eliminated: A Colombian casino group's green bet
A casino operator in Colombia eliminated more than 600,000 single-use plastic bottles in six months by installing water dispensers across its venues. The move is part of a broader environmental strategy led by CIRSA Group.
A law that forced operators to rethink their operations
Colombia has spent two years implementing Law 2232 of 2022, which sets a phased timeline to eliminate single-use plastics by 2030. The first restrictions came into force in July 2024, and straws, stirrers, packaging bags and balloon sticks were removed from the market. For businesses handling high visitor volumes, such as land-based casinos, that meant reviewing internal operations from the ground up.
Winner Group, a subsidiary of CIRSA, responded with a direct operational change: it removed single-use plastic bottles and replaced them with water dispensers across all its venues. The measure was rolled out in coordination with Gato Pardo Restaurante Bar, its restaurant chain operating inside the same casino premises, which accounts for the scale of the result: 600,000 bottles in six months, equivalent to 10.2 tonnes of plastic kept out of the environment.
What happens in Colombia is part of something bigger
The decision was not driven solely by local regulation. Winner Group operates under the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework that CIRSA applies across the ten countries in which it operates, including Spain, Italy, Portugal, Mexico and other Latin American markets.
In 2023, already sourced 64 per cent of its energy from renewable sources, based on total consumption of 199 million kWh. The group wants 95 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2030 – the same year it aims to cut carbon emissions by 65 per cent against historical levels. Five years later, in 2035, it is chasing full carbon neutrality.
Since 2015, the company has lowered energy-related indirect emissions by 32 per cent and power costs per square metre by 19.8 per cent. These results have been supported by smart monitoring technologies based on the Internet of Things (IoT), deployed across more than 140 locations. They have also been backed by investments exceeding €2.8 million in environmental risk prevention and approximately €1.5 million in green infrastructure through the Green Hall programme.
In 2025, the group generated more than 1,000 tonnes of waste and recycled 91 per cent of it. Even playing cards from poker tables are given a second life through recycling rather than being discarded.
The ratings that back the strategy
Two international audit agencies have assessed CIRSA’s environmental performance. Sustainalytics – a global leader in ESG research, ratings and analysis – assigned the company a score of 12.1, placing it among the leading performers in the global casino sector. Standard & Poor’s, the US-based credit rating agency and creator of the S&P 500 index, ranks CIRSA among the top four operators in the sector globally.
What can casino operators take from this case?
Swapping bottles for dispensers may look like a minor decision, but what sets it apart is the framework supporting it:
- Carbon targets with defined deadlines.
- Certified investment in infrastructure.
- Audited waste management.
- Policy replicated simultaneously across ten markets.
For land-based casino operators in Colombia and across the wider region, the case demonstrates that compliance with Law 2232 need not be a standalone administrative exercise. It can serve as the entry point to a broader, measurable and internationally recognised operating model. The regulation is here; what each operator chooses to do with it is another matter.
This article was first published in Spanish on 28 May 2026.
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