A 35ft waste-paper aeroplane has been created by government-funded Envirowise to mark a new campaign to reduce the amount of waste offices produce. The plane is made up from the amount of paper an office worker gets through in just one month – an astonishing 1584 sheets of A4. This adds up to an estimated 1.2 billion sheets of paper used every month by office workers across the East Midlands (1) - enough to reach to the moon laid end-to-end.
Paper usage is rising by around 20% every year (2), with the average office worker using approximately 50 sheets of paper every day in the typical office. That is aside from other paper waste such as newspapers and magazines that they may read.
“Wasting paper is not only a drain on our environment but is also a burden on most companies’ bottom line – they are wasting money with every piece of paper they use needlessly,” comments Envirowise Regional Agent for the East Midlands, Liz Mullis.
Envirowise experience shows that in a best practice small office, employees will use as little as 15 sheets of paper a day compared to a less resourceful office where each person can squander a staggering 100 sheets of paper per day. This means that many companies have the potential to reduce costs and help reduce environmental damage. Cutting down on paper usage would help to reduce the 5 million tonnes of printing and writing papers UK businesses are estimated to throw away each year. (3)
Liz Mullis continues, “In our experience, most businesses don’t think enough about how much they are paying for items they are throwing away. There is tremendous scope for reducing waste in offices.”
In addition to the financial savings that can be made through paper reduction there are a number of other areas where offices can benefit by reducing waste and making more efficient use of resources. To help businesses take the first steps to saving money and reducing their environmental impact Envirowise recommends considering the following no cost or low cost measures:
1. Think before you print! Do you really need to print that document or make so many copies of it?
2. Set your printer to print on both sides of the paper by default. It will automatically reduce the amount of paper you use and thus reduce your paper budget.
3. Use recycled paper rather than virgin paper.
4. Use 80g paper sheets rather than thicker paper and avoid printing on ‘flash’ paper unless you really have to. The thicker the paper you use the more paper you waste.
5. Encourage staff to re-use and recycle, through staff awareness training.
6. Re-use scrap paper.
7. Issue documents electronically rather than in paper form.
8. Nominate a waste champion to implement and promote waste minimisation within the company.
9. Set up an employee suggestion scheme to generate ideas.
10. Use key performance indicators (KPIs) to set performance targets which can be measured.
The 35ft paper plane will be recycled by Pearce Recycling company.
In order to help businesses in the region minimise paper wastage and maximise profits, Envirowise has launched a free online savings calculator - www.maximiseprofit.org.uk
. Businesses simply input a few basic details to the calculator to reveal what sort of savings they could make. In addition to paper costs, the calculator also advises on other potential office savings such as ink, waste disposal, water, heating and transport.
The user-friendly guidance provides businesses with straightforward, affordable ways to reduce waste. It also includes information on how to arrange a free, confidential visit (Ireland, Scotland and Wales only) from an Envirowise expert to identify low cost, high value solutions and help get your waste minimisation programme started.
Notes to editors:
[1] Based on the Office of National Statistics' Labour Market Statistics, December 2004
2 Envirowise publication – Green Officiency: Running a cost effective, environmentally aware office
3 www.wasteonline.org
About Envirowise
Envirowise delivers a valuable programme of confidential advice to UK businesses. This advice enables businesses to improve profitability and reduce environmental impact.
Independent, practical and proven guidance is available through the Envirowise Advice Line, information resources and on site visits (Ireland, Scotland and Wales only) delivered by a national team of expert advisors. Each solution is driven by the specific needs of individual firms, to genuinely improve their business practices, profitability and competitiveness. Since 1994, Envirowise has helped UK industry save £1 billion.
The Envirowise programme is available to any UK business, completely free of charge. For more information visit www.envirowise.gov.uk or call 0800 585 794.
For more information, please contact:
Kate Sturley or Rod Dennis on 0117 929 2311 or kates@harrisoncowley.com