Top 15 Shocking Facts You Didn’t Know About Office Paper Waste

1.A typical business office will produce about 1.5 pounds of paper waste per employee each day.

2. If you were to eliminate office paper from your waste stream you can cut your waste bill by 50 percent or more.

3. For every ton of recycled paper it can save up to 17 trees.

4. The paper industry ranks 4th in contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, and contributes 9% of the manufacturing sector’s carbon emissions

5. If the U.S could cut office paper use by just 10% it would prevent the emission of 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases (the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road).

6. One year’s worth of the New York Times newspaper weighs 520 pounds.

7. To print a Sunday edition of the New York Times it takes 75,000 trees.

8. With all the office paper we waste every year we could build a 12-foot high wall of paper from New York to California.

9. The average American attorney uses one ton of paper every year.

10. Recycling one ton of paper saves 682.5 gallons of oil (think about that next time you’re standing at the pump).

11. American consumers receive 41 pounds of junk mail per year.

12. US Offices create 12.1 trillion sheets of paper Per Year

13. 40% of the solid mass in landfills is paper and paperboard waste

14. More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail

15. Paper usage is rising by around 20% every year, with the average office worker using approximately 50 sheets of paper every day in the typical office.


These are only a few reasons that offices need to practice conservative paper use. There are a lot of ways you can save paper in the office. This article has a few tips on how you can start today, 5 Ways to Save Paper with the Web. Also, NuRelm is scheduling presentations on Cutting Costs and Paper with the Web all over the United States. If you are interested in attending a workshop by NuRelm, click here to check the calendar or call 1.877.2NuRelm for more information.