The economics of paper consumption in offices
Abstract
This paper explores the factors potentially responsible for the overconsumption of office paper and estimates the adverse environmental and economic impact of overconsumption. Data were collected from the employees of selected higher educational institutions in Oman. Technical factors, workplace environment, printing preferences and lack of awareness were found the main cause of overconsumption. Environmental and economic impact of the paper was estimated from the actual amount of paper consumed using standard formulas from literature. The institutions have used 5,200 reams (13 tons) of 80gm A4 size paper in one year. The economic cost of the paper was 7,800 OMR (20,280 US$). The environmental impact estimated are: cutting of 312 trees, 73,970 Ibs of CO2 gas emission, 144,742 KWh of energy consumption, solid waste produced 29,614 lbs and 247975 gallons of water were wasted. Changing printing preferences, a significant amount of economic and environmental resources to the tune of 44.8% can be saved.
Keyword : computer technology, environmental and economic cost, Oman, printing, paper consumption
How to Cite
Shah, I. A., Amjed, S., & Alkathiri, N. A. (2019). The economics of paper consumption in offices. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 20(1), 43-62. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2019.6809
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Repaper Project. (n.d.). Recovering and discovering a source. National Wildlife Federation, Merrifield VA 22116-1583, USA. Retrieved from http://www.wastexchange.org/upload_publications/Office-PaperRecyclingGuide.pdf
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Sumathi, S., & Hung, Y. (2006). Chapter in Hand book of industrial and hazardous wastes treatment (2nd ed.). Revised and expanded. L. K. Wang, Y-T. Hung, H. H. Lo, & C. Yapijakis (Eds.) (pp. 469-551). CRC Press.
Throne, H., Sto, E., & Strandbakken, P. (2007). The role of consumption and consumers in zero emission strategies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 15.
Tam, P. (2004). The paper trail: cost cutters have their sights on a new target: the office printer. The Wall Street Journal, R4, September 13, 2004.
Thompson, G., Swain, J., Kay, M., & Forster, C. F. (2001). The treatment of pulp and paper mill effluent: a review. Bioresource Technology, 77(3), 275-286. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-8524(00)00060-2
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WWF. (2015). World wide funds. Retrieved from savepaper@wwfdcp.org
Webster, M. (2012). Bridging the information worker productivity gap: new challenges and opportunities for IT. International Data Corporation, 5 Speen Street Framingham, MA 01701 USA.
York, R. (2006). Ecological paradoxes: William Stanley Jevons and the paperless office. Human Ecology Review, 13(2), 143.
AL-Qahtani, S. H. (2012). The paperless organization: improved processes and reduction in paper usage through wider use of electronic documents and tablet computers (Thesis, Master of Science (MSc)). University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10289/7023
Abramovitz, J., & Ashley, M. (1999). Paper cuts: recovering the paper landscape (pp. 13-14). Worldwatch Paper 149.
Egebark, J., & Ekström, M. (2013). Can indifference make the world greener? IFN Working Paper No. 975, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Sweden. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/Adminis-trator/Downloads/SSRN-id2324922.pdf
Federal Electronic Challenges. (2012). Reducing paper and printer ink usage. Federal Electronic Challenges, Environmental Protection Agency, USA. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/fec
Fujitsu. (2001). AIIM International ECM road show. Sacramento, CA. September 10, 2001.
FAO. (1997). State of the world’s forests 1997. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, 1997.
Hujala, M. (2011, January). The role of information and communication technologies in paper consumption. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 7(2), 121-135. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBIS.2011.038507
Hesseldahl, A. (2008, May 27). The new push to get rid of paper. Business Week.
Jonkutė, G. (2015). The consumers’ approach to sustainable consumption and production: a case study in Lithuania. Environmental Research, Engineering and Management, 71(4), 28-46.
Jenkin, T. A., Webster, J., & McShane, L. (2011). An agenda for “Green” information technology and systems research. Information and Organization, 21(1), 17-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoandorg.2010.09.003
Kazanci, Z. (2015). University students’ preferences of reading from a printed paper or a digital screen – a longitudinal study. International Journal of Culture and History, 1(1), 50-53.
Krishnan, S., & Subramanian, N. (2015). Evaluating carbon-reducing impact of document management systems. 7th Annual IEEE Green Technologies Conference (pp. 88-94). New Orleans, LA, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1109/GREENTECH.2015.32
King, K., & Toland, J. (2014). iPads and the paperless office: the impact of tablet devices on paper consumption in higher education. Journal of Applied Computing and Information Technology, 18(1). Retrieved from http://www.citrenz.ac.nz/jacit/JACIT1801/2014King_PaperlessOffice.html
Kasavel, K. (2013). Managing paper use in the office: conducting a paper use survey. Retrieved from http://www.urbanearth.co.za/articles/managing-paper-use-office-conducting-paper-use-survey
Mukete, B., Sun, Y., Zama, E., & Monono, S. K. (2016). Paper consumption and environmental impact in an emerging economy. Journal of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, 1(1), 13-18.
Moberga, A., Johanssonb, M., Finnvedena, G., & Jonssonc, A. (2010). Printed and tablet e-paper newspaper from an environmental perspective – a screening life cycle assessment. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 30(3), 177-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2009.07.001
McCool, C. (2008). How to reduce printing costs by 17%: a guide to doing well and doing good by printing less, a green print technologies. Portland White Paper. Retrieved from www.printgreener.com
Mueller. (2001). Mueller Policy Paper #1: Reduce Standard Margin Settings. Penn State University, USA. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/Iqtidar/Desktop/2016/TRC%20project/ IT%20to%20save%20environment/mueller_policy_1update.pdf
McCormack, N. (2011). Mission impossible? The future of “paperless” library operations. Library Management, 32(4/5), 279-289. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435121111132284
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. (2016). Become a paperless office. Retrieved from http://www.reduce.org/
Niinimäki, K., & Hassi, L. (2011). Emerging design strategies in sustainable production and consumption of textiles and clothing. Journal of Cleaner Production, 19(16), 1876-1883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.04.020
Paperless Project. (2013). Facts about paper: the impact of consumption. Retrieved from http://www.thepaperlessproject.com/
Preton. (2010). Environmental issues associated with toner and ink usage. Preton Ltd, White Paper.
Peters, G. (2003). A Society Addicted to Paper – The Effect of Computer Use on Paper Consumption. School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University Vancouver, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6.
Penn State University. (2000). Penn State Indicator Report 2000, Penn State University, USA.
Planet, A. (2008). The role of e-billing in reducing the environmental impacts of paper consumption. Planet Ark Report January 24, 2008.
Ranko, S., Berislav, B., & Antun, S. (2008, 19-21 June). New Ways in Manufacturing Engineering, document management system as source of competitive advantage. Prešov, Slovak Republic.
Repaper Project. (n.d.). Recovering and discovering a source. National Wildlife Federation, Merrifield VA 22116-1583, USA. Retrieved from http://www.wastexchange.org/upload_publications/Office-PaperRecyclingGuide.pdf
SC Technology Group. (2015). 3 Must – have technologies to reduce paper consumption. SC Technology Group. Retrieved from http://www.sctechnologygroup. com.au/3-must-have-technologies-to-reduce-paper-consumption/
Sarantis, H. (2002). Business guide to paper reduction: a step-by-step plan to save money by saving paper, forest ethics. Retrieved from http://sustainability.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/BusinessGuidetoPaperReduction.pdf
Sellen, A. J., & Harper, R. (2002). The myth of the paperless office. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Sharma, B. K. (2014, 13-14 August). Impact of paper industry on environment: a case study of the Nagaon Paper Mill. Paper presented in International Conference on Trends in Economics, Humanities and Management (ICTEHM’14). Pattaya (Thailand).
Sophia, B. M. (2013). Sustainable paper consumption: exploring behavioural factors. Social Science, 2, 270-283. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci2040270
Soskolne, C. L., & Sieswerda, L. E. (2010). Cancer risk associated with pulp and Paper Mills: a review of occupational and community epidemiology. Journal of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada: Research, Policy and Practice, 29 (Supplement 2).
Smith, R. E. (2011). The environmental sustainability of paper. Graduate Studies Journal of Organizational Dynamics, 1(1), 1-18.
Standard Chartered Bank. (2010). Reducing and eliminating paper consumption: a best practice guide for corporate offices (1rst ed.), May 2010. Standard Chartered Bank (China) limited, Shanghai, China.
Susanty, W., Thamrin, T. E., & Cucus, A. (2012, 20-21 June). Document management system based on paperless. 1st International Conference on Engineering and Technology Development (ICETD 2012).Universitas Bandar Lampung, Lampung, Indonesia.
Sustainability Victoria. (2011). Save paper, sustainability Victoria. Retrieved from sustainability.vic.gov.au
Sumathi, S., & Hung, Y. (2006). Chapter in Hand book of industrial and hazardous wastes treatment (2nd ed.). Revised and expanded. L. K. Wang, Y-T. Hung, H. H. Lo, & C. Yapijakis (Eds.) (pp. 469-551). CRC Press.
Throne, H., Sto, E., & Strandbakken, P. (2007). The role of consumption and consumers in zero emission strategies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 15.
Tam, P. (2004). The paper trail: cost cutters have their sights on a new target: the office printer. The Wall Street Journal, R4, September 13, 2004.
Thompson, G., Swain, J., Kay, M., & Forster, C. F. (2001). The treatment of pulp and paper mill effluent: a review. Bioresource Technology, 77(3), 275-286. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-8524(00)00060-2
Upstate Medical University. (2016). Think green, sustainability initiative. Upstate Medical University, New York. Retrieved from http://www.upstate.edu/green/pdf/tg-news/tg-news-summer-2016.pdf
World Health Organization. (2016). Dioxins and their effects on human health. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dioxins-and-their-effects-on-human-health
WWF. (2015). World wide funds. Retrieved from savepaper@wwfdcp.org
Webster, M. (2012). Bridging the information worker productivity gap: new challenges and opportunities for IT. International Data Corporation, 5 Speen Street Framingham, MA 01701 USA.
York, R. (2006). Ecological paradoxes: William Stanley Jevons and the paperless office. Human Ecology Review, 13(2), 143.