Paper is a major purchasing and disposal cost. It is estimated that the average office worker uses up to 45 sheets of paper per day, of which over half is considered waste. However, an efficient office can use as little as 16 sheets per person, per day. Virgin paper production usually involves high chemical and energy use, which can have detrimental effects during disposal (landfill or incineration). However, paper is a natural resource that can be recycled up to five times, substantially reducing these impacts. By buying locally produced, recycled paper you can help boost the market for recycled products. This, in turn, supports the recycling industry and reduces unnecessary virgin imports.

The first step in addressing paper consumption in an office is to establish a baseline by calculating the annual paper use and cost per person. To put paper use into perspective, you may wish to tell staff the average number of sheets of paper they use each day (there are 500 sheets in a ream). A best-practice small office can use as few as seven reams of paper per person per year. This calculation will help to identify wasteful behaviours (habit versus necessity). To calculate the true cost, include the purchase, printing, and waste disposal costs. The cost of printing (ink and other operating costs) alone can be as much as eight times the cost of the paper.

The next step is to consider options for preventing paper use, some suggestions are provided below:

• Reduce the number of printers, particularly desk printers which are expensive to run
• Encourage staff to use electronic communications where possible and not to print e-mails unless absolutely necessary
• Avoid overproduction of marketing and publicity material by reviewing distribution lists and regularly updating databases
• Explore options for electronic invoicing with customers
• Ensure printers are set to double-sided format and preferrably in greyscale as default
• If draft copies of documents are unavoidable, print four pages to an A4 sheet to reduce paper use
• Use thinner paper which means less material wastage per page, less energy in the manufacturing process and in printing to apply ink (80 gsm paper is suitable for routine printing)
• Monitor printing levels by giving employees a personal access code to the printer/photocopier and consider posting a league table to highlight performance
• Post notices near the printer/copier to remind be to print only when necessary
• Collect all paper that has been printed on one side and reuse it for printing in draft or for recycled notepads

Targets and actions associated with reducing paper use could also be outlined in a paper policy which provides clear guidelines and objectives for the whole organisation.