Ten Scary Facts About Paper

In honor of the upcoming Hallowe’en festivities, here are ten frightening facts about paper waste sure to spook you into considering more sustainable practices in the office.

10 Frightening Facts 

Businesses in America generate so much paper waste annually, it’s frightening! Sustainability starts with small steps like getting your paper waste under control. Here are some spooky facts about the typical office’s paper use…

1. The average employee in America uses about 10,000 sheets of paper annually!
2. The average American uses the equivalent of one 100-foot tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products every year.
3. The typical American office worker uses approximately 500 disposable paper and plastic cups while at work each year.
4. 28% of municipal solid waste is paper. That’s more than anything else Americans throw away.
5. To produce a single ton of paper, more water is used by the pulp and paper industry than any other industry.
6. Americans purchase an estimated 2.6 BILLION holiday cards each year. That’s enough to fill a professional football stadium 10 stories high!
7. Paper accounts for 71.6 million tons of solid waste annually.
8. The typical American office makes 19 copies of each paper document.
9. Offices then lose 1 out of every 20 paper documents.
10. These same offices then spend as much as $120 dollars searching for misfiled documents.

Reducing paper waste starts with implementing a company-wide print policy. Without an enforceable print policy, most likely your company’s print volume and costs are out of control.

Here are two more statistics to ponder on what paper waste is costing your business…

• The 10,000 pages produced by each employee cost your business $725 per year. That’s per employee!
• 37-41% of print-related expenses are unapproved.

Is your team printing personal items, unnecessary emails or multiple copies of paper documents? Do they order supplies and consumables without a PO? If so these hidden costs are affecting your bottom line and they’re higher than you think!

If you can relate to these statistics and would like to get your print environment under control while lowering costs, consider a Managed Print Services solution. Give us a call and let us show you how working with a Managed Print Services provider can help you significantly reduce waste, lower your costs, and grow your business!

Stats Sources: brandongaille.com, scannmore.com, theworldcounts.com