How Much Paper is used in One Day?

The world produces 300 million tons of paper. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, printing and writing papers typically found in a school or office environment such as copier paper, computer printouts and notepads, comprise the largest category of paper product consumption and landfill waste. This is an alarming figure considering the advances technology of today’s world that is specifically designed to help offices go paperless.

Paper Consumption in the United States

             Paper consumption in the United States for the last 20 years has increased from 92 million tons to 208 million, a growth of 126%.

             Paper in the U.S. represents 16% of landfill solid waste as of 2009.

             The average person in the U.S. consumed as much paper as 6 people combined in Asia in the last decade.

             The U.S. has less than 5% of the world’s population, yet consumes more than 30% of the world’s paper.

             The U.S. uses approximately 68 million trees each year to produce paper and paper products.

Paper Consumption in the Office

               The average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year.

               45% of paper printed in offices ends up trashed by the end of the day.

               S. companies spend more than $120 billion a year on printed forms, most of which outdate themselves within three months’ time.

               A typical employee spends 30-40% of their time looking for information kept in filling cabinets.

               Each four-drawer file cabinet holds an average of 10,000 to 12,000 documents, takes up to 9 SF of floor space and costs $1,500 per year.

               More than 70% of businesses would fail within 3 weeks if they suffered a catastrophic loss of paper-based records due to fire or flood.

               The average businesses paper consumption grows by 22% per year, meaning in 3.3 years your paper consumption will double.