Paper Usage in a Business

A. Trends in Paper Consumption

The ability to document processes, place or fill orders, manage Human Resources, communicate between employees, store information, edit documents, bill customers, and legally protect oneself or the company can be the core of business operations. Historically, providing these services required the use of paper. Without this important tool, it would be very difficult to conduct business.

To fully understand these concerns, it is important to understand the magnitude of current paper consumption:

Paper Consumption Statistics

* The average American office worker is estimated to use a sheet of paper every 12 minutes – a ream per person every two and a half working weeks – and to dispose of 100-200 pounds per every year.1

* The number of pages consumed in U.S. offices is growing by about 20 percent each year.2

* The introduction of email into an organization resulted on average in a 40 percent increase in paper consumption.3 A worldwide growth of 600 percent in printer accessibility between 1988 and 1993 is in part what contributes to this.

* The U.S. is by far the world’s largest producer and consumer of paper.5 Per capita U.S. paper consumption is over six times greater than the world average and about 25 percent greater than Japan, the world’s second largest per capita paper consumer.6

B. Business Efficiency: The Argument for Paper Reduction

Paper is something that virtually every business uses in large quantities. Currently 90 percent of all information in businesses is retained on paper. Its use is so familiar that it generally goes unquestioned. This tendency, however, can lead companies to stay dependent on wasteful systems. The financial costs of paper extend far beyond just purchasing the paper. There are also costs associated with storage, lost documents, postage, document obsolescence, and labor inefficiency.

How Paper Over-Use Hurts the Bottom Line

Storage Space: To store 2 million paper...