Office Paper Assessment Report:
Reduce Paper Use in the Office
The Green Workplace Paper Report provides businesses with the baseline information required to reduce paper use in the office and monitor the environmental impact in the workplace. A comprehensive report can include a cost-savings analysis of upgrading all printer and copy paper to paper with a higher post-consumer waste content (PCW). Also included in the report is contact information for regional service providers who can supply the business with recycled paper products.
Where relevant, Green Workplace can conduct a printer-hardware and/or IT system analysis to identify systematic areas of opportunity to reduce paper use in the office by reducing printouts, increasing double-sided printing or the use of electronic filing systems. The report can include a cost-savings analysis of replacing paper towels with high efficiency hand dryers, and a cost-savings analysis of upgrading the PCW content of bathroom tissue and other paper products. Printed publications can also be assessed for recycled content including the cost of upgrading the recycled paper content of the publications.
A baseline summary of environmental impacts related to reducing office paper consumption is provided, including greenhouse gas emissions, trees cut, toxins released and solid waste produced as a result of paper manufacture, using our highly specialized regional paper impact calculators. The Report can be customized to the particular needs of any business.
Sample Page from a Green Workplace Office Paper Assessment Report
NOTE: This report has been designed to provide a general idea of the detailed information that our assessments provide. Some sections have been omitted.
3. Paper Consumption & Environmental Impacts
3.1 Paper Consumption and 100% Post-Consumer Waste (PCW) Upgrade Analysis
SUMMARY:
Annual Paper Consumption (all departments):
2,045,000
409 cartons (cases)
Table 3.1.1: 8.5”x11” Paper Consumption
Refer to table below
Potential Environmental Savings by upgrading PCW content of Office Paper
o Trees: 48 trees
o Solid Waste: 1030 kg
o Energy: 10027 kWh
o Greenhouse Gases: 2.0 tonnes
o Effluent: 77705 litres
o Carcinogens: 1.2 kg
3.3 Paper Towel and Hand Dryer Upgrade Comparison
Current products:
BW-314 EcoSoft Roll Paper Towel, 100% recycled 40% minimum PCW up to 73% PCW
8” roll x 800 feet, 6 rolls per case
Case 6 rolls $48.13 CAD
BW-473 EcoSoft Single Fold Paper Towel, 100% recycled 40% minimum PCW up to 73% PCW. 9” x 10”, 268 towels per package,
15 packages per case $32.46 CAD per case
The paper towels in use contain at least 40% PCW content – this is commendable and significantly decreases your businesses environmental impact. We suggest the use of high efficiency hand dryers in place of paper towels to reduce office paper of this type. For example, Frogfile Office Essentials sells brown single-fold towels with 100% PCW content (www.frogfile.ca)
Table 3.3.1: Environmental Impact of Paper Towel consumption
Summary of Environmental Impact
o Trees: 15 trees
o Greenhouse Gases: 1.2 tonnes
Summary:
Green Workplace recommends that the client replace washroom paper towels with high efficiency hand dryers. This would save $3816 per year in purchasing costs for paper towels and cost only $34/year in electricity (not including installation costs), with a payback time of 1.7 years. The use of hand dryers could also significantly reduce the amount of garbage generated by the client.
We recommend installing Dyson’s Airblade hand dryers, which are the industry leader for environmentally friendly hand drying. The Airblade uses 80% less energy than conventional hand dryers. It is GreenSpec approved and helps qualify for LEED credits
4. Key Strategies to Reduce Paper Use in the Office
4.2 Successes and Areas for Improvement
Head Office Paper products Successes:
• All office paper and bathroom tissue products contain at least some PCW content
• The Purchasing department is using exclusively 100% PCW office paper
• The PCW content of paper towel is above average
• The Printing Department has undertaken a review of all paper products and print materials contracted off-site.
• Mixed paper products constitute 10% or less of the waste (garbage)
Areas for improvement:
• Upgrade Production department regular office paper to 100% PCW
• Avoid the use of coloured paper where it could be substituted by white paper that contains 100% PCW
• Increase PCW content of bathroom paper products and/or change to high efficiency hand dryers
• Phase out or retire existing single-sided printers, and change policy to require the purchase of duplex-capable printers only.
Appendix
Table A.1 Laser Printers
Note: Power consumption data based on Internet research and was not readily available for all listed hardware.
73% of laser printers in Head Office are duplex capable. 50% of all laser printers are Energy Star certified.
According to the BC Hydro website:
“How much more efficient are ENERGY STAR-labelled machines? This depends on the type of equipment – computer, copier, fax, monitor. In general, ENERGY STAR office machines help save energy in two ways: they use less energy to perform regular tasks, and when not in use, they automatically enter a low-power mode. The savings can be significant – in the range of 40-65 % less energy used than conventional equivalents.”
With the right printer you can reduce office paper and energy consumption at the same time.