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Section 2 Office wastes and what to do with each one

Key

* * * * *	Easily achieved
* * * *	Quite easy
* * *	Achievable with effort
* *	Possible
*	Possible but difficult
	Extremely difficult

Paper

Reduce	* * * *	Paper is a very undervalued material - easy come, easy go…
Reuse	* * * * *	Easy to turn over and use the other side
Recycle	* * * * *	Office paper is one of the most desirable grades of waste paper
Buy Recycled	* * * * *	From Filofax fillers to post-it notes - choose recycled

The first piece of paper was produced in AD 105 by Tsai Luin the Chinese Minister of Agriculture and paper is still the standard method of communication within and between most offices. Today office workers around the world use more than 15 million miles of paper daily. The demand for printing and business papers in the UK has risen from just under 2 million tonnes p.a. in 1984 to over 3.5 million tonnes in 1994. Copying machines printers and fax machines fuel the demand for paper and their numbers are steadily increasing. The number of photocopiers in use in the UK is approaching the 1 million mark and laser printers have increased from 200,000 in 1989 to nearly 750,000. Paper is the main contributor to office wastes and it has been estimated that businesses discard about one million tonnes of printing and writing papers every year. The sources of this waste paper are numerous. Some results from typing and printing errors or excess photocopying. Other comes from outdated documents or redundant stationery following changes of address or personnel. Much of the paper arriving daily goes straight into the bin such as unsolicited incoming mail and used envelopes. High quality paper is often used for internal documents or scribbled notes, an extravagance which creates additional waste

Paper and the Environment

Although the raw material for paper making is predominantly trees, and it takes on average one tree to produce 15,000 A4 sheets of standard office paper, it is a common misconception that recycling waste paper saves trees. Trees for paper making are grown and harvested as a long-term crop, with new trees planted to replace those cut down. Nearly all paper is made from wood grown in sustainable forests In Sweden a major supplier of wood pulp used for paper manufacture the amount of forest has increased during the twentieth century as a result of balanced forestry practices with growth exceeding fellings. The more important environmental issues are:

The nature of the forests and where they are situated. In many cases fast growing coniferous forests are being printed in areas where they are not indigenous, endangering native flora and fauna. Very few trees in these managed forests are allowed to grow old, die and rot way naturally related plant and animal species which often become threatened as a result. In warmer climates, fast growing, water demanding Eucalyptus trees are being planted in areas where they would not normally grow, often resulting in severe local environmental pressures. Increased paper recycling reduces the need for such inappropriate afforestation schemes.
Virgin pulp has to be bleached and the commonest form of bleach is chlorine which produces dioxins as a by-product, although chlorine gas bleaching is likely to be phased out in the near future. Dioxins pollute the water supply and are highly toxic. Recycled paper is not usually re-bleached (it will have been bleached originally as virgin pulp) and even where it is, oxygen rather than chlorine bleaching is used.
Producing recycled paper involves a lower energy consumption than virgin paper - around 28% less according to a study for the EC. This is because most of the energy used in paper making is in the pulping required to turn wood into paper However, much of the energy used in virgin pulp production is from renewable sources, whereas the energy used for recycling in the UK is from fossil fuels.
Recycled paper produces fewer emissions to air and water of polluting substances than making paper from virgin fibre.
By using waste paper to produce new paper, disposal problems are reduced.

Producing recycled paper may involve one major process which is not needed for virgin paper - removing ink and other items (e.g. wax, paper clips etc.) from the waste paper. This process is called de-inking, and produces a sludge which contains low concentrations of heavy metals which is then landfilled. Research has shown that the level of heavy metals is usually less than in sewage sludge and overall the environmental impact of paper recycling is less than that of producing paper from virgin sources. Other options for the use of waste paper are incineration to produce energy and composting. These disposal methods are more suitable for low grade or contaminated waste paper and board. Good quality office paper is valuable for recycling, however and should be used for this purpose.

Please Turn Over -
Reduce and Reuse

In most offices there is tremendous potential for reducing the amount of paper used and thrown away, and it is something which every member of staff can influence to a degree. Some of the following suggestions can be implemented easily by individuals, others will require policy decisions taken across departments or the whole company. All of them will save money and reduce waste!

Use both sides of the paper. Whenever possible use double sided photocopying - and make sure that all staff regularly using photocopiers know how to do this. Better still, set the photocopier to default to double sided printing!
If your laser printer has a duplex option, use that for multiple page items.
Make departments and sections responsible for their own photocopying budgets, so that they have an incentive to print double sided as well as being exhorted to do so
Use paper printed one side only for notepads. A bulldog clip is useful for holding pieces together.
Use scrap paper for notes to colleagues.
Instead of using post-it notes, use scrap paper attached with a paper clip.
Reuse envelopes for internal circulation.
Make better use of notice boards rather circulating copies of all non-urgent memos and other circulars to all staff.
Review the need for computer print-outs from time to time - it is all too easy to go on printing out a regular fifty page report for the same ten people who have received it for the last two years - do they all still want it, do any of them want it?
With a networked computer system, consider using electronic mail for inter-office memos
Keep a pile of good quality A4 scrap paper next to the printer for rough or trial copies. Out of date headed paper is ideal for this purpose.
Use the smallest piece of paper appropriate to the task. For example, photocopy A3 documents to A4 size, use A5 size cover sheets for faxes, or just send one A4 page if the message is short.
Have a policy that photocopiers and printers always reset to single copy printing after someone has used them, and check anyway before using them.
Reuse wallet folders, hanging file dividers and other storage items Review procedures that require regular circulation of forms and memos, and how many can be eliminated.
Regularly check computerised mailing lists and remove duplicates and out of date addresses.

NatWest

One of the daily printouts to branches of NatWest has been restructured. Estimated annual savings are £511,000.

The Top Grades -
Recycling Office Paper

The value and use of paper for recycles depends on its grade. The waste paper market is complex and the British Paper and Board Industry Federation (BPBIF) has categorised waste papers into 11 major and 68 minor grades covering a range of qualities as shown in figure 4.

The most sought after types of office papers are white photocopying, letterhead and computer paper. The value to the paper merchant varies from region to region and with fluctuations in the market but computer paper and printers off-cuts (if the firm has a print room) are particularly valuable. Mixed waste paper (e.g. including envelopes and coloured paper as well as white and computer paper) is worth very little and many merchants will only offer to take it away free of charge if they are collecting other better quality paper at the same time. There are numerous paper merchants and community businesses all over the country who specialise in collecting paper from offices and many local authorities also offer this service. The market for office waste paper is much less volatile than that for the lower grades like newspapers and magazines, and most mills want more good quality office paper. In the United States, sorted office paper suitable for deinking, has been given the status of an official Paper Stock Institute grade.

Wessex Water Plc

In 1992 Wessex Water Plc set out to find out how much paper the company used, in order to meet its 50% reduction target by 1995. Two corporate measures were identified - one for computer listing paper, on the basis of number of lines of print per department per week, and one for general paper, using the number of sheets of white, coloured and headed paper used per employee per week, plus number of sheets per geographical location. Total annual usage was found to be 13 million sheets of general paper and about 6 million sheets of computer listing paper. At an early stage in the waste reduction process, double sided photocopying and greater use of the electronic mailing system were already in use.

Group 1	White Woodfree* Unprinted. These are chemically pulped best white and cream shavings. They are free from mechanical and thermo-mechanical fibres.
Group 2	White Woodfree Printed. These include best one cuts, book quire, offcuts and shavings of chemically pulped papers.
Group 3	White and Lightly Printed Mechanically Pulped Papers
Group 4	Coloured Woodfree Printed and Unprinted Papers including coloured mill broke (waste paper produced by the paper mill during the paper manufacturing process).
Group 5	Heavily Printed Mechanically Pulped Papers
Group 6	Coloured Krafts and Manilas**, i.e. chemically pulped paper.
Group 7	New Kraft Liner Stocks.
Group 8	Container Wasted or Old Kraft Liner Stocks
Group 9	Mixed Papers.
Group 10	Coloured Card.
Group 11	Contaminated Grades
	* "Woodfree" means wood pulp free from mechanical pulp, not pulp without wood in it. ** "Kraft" means paper made from a type of pulp which has been chemically treated by the sulphate process. It is a strong paper mainly used for wrapping and packaging.

Figure 4 The major grades of waste paper

Setting Up an Office Paper Recycling Scheme

Although different offices will have different requirements the main activities in setting up a paper recycling scheme are:-

Work out what you will do with the waste once it is collected. This involves checking with local waste paper merchants or groups which run collection schemes, and also ensuring that the chosen company is a licensed waste carrier.
When you have found a collector, find out what kind of paper they will collect and how they want it sorted. Equally find out what items they do not want included, such as coloured paper. You also need to check how much paper needs to be accumulated before they collect, when and how often they visit your area, and what kind of access is needed to the premises.
Involve the staff. This is vital, since much of the success of the scheme will depend on the care which staff are prepared to put into separating out different types of paper, and separating recyclable from non-recyclable items, such as crisp packets and apple cores.
Involve the cleaners or the cleaning company. There is no point in the office staff separating paper if the cleaners then mix it up with the other rubbish.
Arrange storage space. The space needed will depend on how much paper needs to be accumulated between collections. If waste is likely to be confidential and has to be shredded, it will occupy much more space, but some collectors offer a shredding service with certificates of destruction. For large quantities, baling machines reduce the amount of storage space needed. They can either be purchased or leased.
Organise the system to separate the paper for recycling. Some collectors will provide special containers. lt is quite possible to use ordinary cardboard boxes, but it is a good idea to label them with the type of paper to be put in them, and also what should not be put in. Colour coding can assist if different types of paper are being separated out.
Consider carefully the position of the containers. The more accessible they are the more they will be used. Ideally each person should have one on or close to their desk, which can be emptied into a larger, central container at intervals. This should not be more than 50 feet away as otherwise people will find it too much effort to empty the containers into it.
Monitor the scheme to avoid problems. The most likely ones are mixing of different types of paper and contamination from ordinary rubbish. Collectors may refuse to collect from sources which contain too many contaminants.
Provide regular feedback to staff to encourage them to use the scheme. This could cover how much paper has been collected, how much revenue it has generated, or waste disposal costs saved.

Company size will dictate how the feedback is provided, through meetings, the company newsletter, notice boards etc. The environmental advantages can be highlighted. A donation to a charity favoured by the staff could be an additional incentive. Recycling good quality office paper should, at worst, cost no more than disposing of paper with other rubbish (as there is a saving on waste disposal costs) and could produce savings through the income generated once the costs of any capital investment in bins, staff education and other possible outlays have been covered.

NatWest

Nearly 2000 branches of NatWest have had waste-compactors installed for their clean waste paper. This has meant that collection lorries have to call at the branches about half as often as previously, therefore using less fuel.

Rank Xerox

Rank Xerox set up a paper recycling scheme in 1991 at its offices in Uxbridge and Marlow. Green wheelie bins were placed strategically in all working areas, and an internal communication campaign was launched to ensure that all staff would dispose of their recyclable paper in the bins.

Buying Recycled Office Paper Products

Recycled paper has come a long way from the poor quality grey paper many people first think of when they hear the word "recycled". There are now recycled papers for most business uses and many other paper and board based products used in an office, such as hanging files, document folders, notepads, and even post-it notes, are available with a recycled content.

Some office products available in recycled paper:

Bankers boxes
Banks and Bond papers
Carbonless papers
Fax paper
Files and document wallets
Flip charts
Filofax fillers
Greetings cards
Hanging file dividers
Holiday and Year planners
Labels
Mailing tubes
Masking paper
Notebooks
Notepads
Padded Envelopes
Photocopying paper
Post-It notes
Printing paper
Record cards
Storage boxes
Wrapping paper
Writing pads
Writing paper

Some time will need to be spent on choosing the most suitable papers for use in the office, with consideration being given to the use of the paper and its recycled content. All reputable suppliers will supply quantities of papers for testing on printers and photocopiers. In addition a number of equipment manufactures now specify that their machines will accept recycled products. The availability of these products is now much better than it was a few years ago and there should be no problem in obtaining a reliable supply at a cost competitive with virgin paper, as long as it conforms with the designated quality standards.

There are papers available which have been endorsed by the suppliers of photocopiers and printers some of whom use recycled paper for their own press releases and letterheads. A number of paper producers now market ranges of recycled papers which are designed to the same specifications as papers made from virgin woodpulp, and are guaranteed for use with laser printers and photocopiers. Improved waste paper sorting, processing and paper finishing have eliminated the earlier problems with recycled paper, such as dust production. The main difference now is in the shade with recycled paper having a soft natural white, or off-white, colour as it is not re-bleached

Some companies may not be willing to use such paper for letterheads and similar uses, but others are happy to do so, and see many advantages in advertising their use of recycled paper as part of a wider environmental policy. A first step in finding the most suitable recycled paper for a particular use might be to contact the manufacturer of the machine and discuss your requirements with them. Canon and Rank Xerox both have their own low grade waste recycled papers which they recommend for their machines. Other helpful sources of information are specialist suppliers of recycled paper, and services such as EPIC, run by Conservation Communications. In addition, there are a number of consultancies which offer this service, and would undertake to recommend appropriate papers and suppliers.

It can be quite difficult to find out exactly what the content of a particular recycled paper is, as there is no universally agreed classification system for recycled paper, and confusion can and does occur. Paper makers have always used internal waste paper - unprinted off-cuts (known as mill broke), wrappers etc., which are types of pre-consumer waste. This is good practice, but it is nothing new and does not contribute to reducing waste generated at the postconsumer stage. To clarify the situation in 1990 a group of recycled paper suppliers agreed the ABCD classification system shown in Fig. 5, which provides accurate information as to the source of the recycled content. Although widely used, this system has not been adopted by the whole of the industry, but it is a valuable guide and will enable the right questions to be put when specifying recycled paper. Other guides to the composition of recycled paper are the NAPM symbol which is awarded by the National Association of Paper Merchants to signify that a recycled paper contains at least 75% recycled fibre from waste paper grades B, C and D, (Figure 5) and the HMSO standard. This measures recycled content in two ways. To count as recycled a paper must contain at least 10% post-consumer waste. It is also given a score based on its recycled content with postconsumer waste carrying twice the weighting of preconsumer waste. There are also symbols in use in other European countries, notably the Blue Angel label used by Germany. To qualify, a paper must be made of 100% recycled fibre, at least 51% of which must be printed waste.

Habitat

Habitat have printed their 1994-5 catalogue on a recycled paper which is made wholly from recycled paper - 100% D.

The geographical source of the paper may also be a matter for consideration. The only source of office papers made from 100% D waste is Germany, which means that purchase of this paper, although environmentally beneficial, is not assisting with the waste paper problem in this country. For uses where a high grade of paper is not required (brown envelopes, flip charts, photocopying or computer paper for internal use) there are papers which contain a proportion of low grade waste (newspapers, mixed papers), as opposed to the higher grade waste from up office white paper.

British Telecom

British Telecom has set environmental specifications for paper procurement. They are one of the UK's biggest buyers and specifiers of paper products. The specifications cover a range of environmental criteria, two of which are wastepaper recycling and recycled paper products. Two examples of specific criteria under the latter are:

In order for any uncoated paper product used by BT to be described as a recycled paper, it must contain a minimum of 50% of its dry weight from recovered waste material (excluding mill broke). The nature of the recycled components must be declared in terms of the ABCD scheme where:

A - woodfree own broke,

B - unprinted woodfree wastepaper,

C - printed woodfree wastepaper and

D - unprinted/printed wood-containing wastepaper. State the percentages of each type in the finished paper.

	Type of Waste	Environmental Analysis
A	WOODFREE (chemically pulped), approved own mill waste.	This paper has required no de-inking and contains no post-consumer waste. This paper would have been used in products not labelled as recycled. No real environmental benefits.
B	WOODFREE, unprinted waste. The paper has not been used or written on. It would be called post-industrial or pre-consumer waste.	This does not contain any post-consumer waste and would not contribute to the success of office recycling schemes. Only marginal environmental benefits.
C	WOODFREE, printed waste. This includes computer printouts, white copier and printing papers, top class printed literature, usually de-inked.	Almost all paper is post-consumer waste. Significant environmental benefits through waste reduction and conservation of energy and forests.
D	Mechanically pulped printed waste, such as newsprint.	All the paper is post-consumer, low grade waste, much of it from domestic sources. Greatest environmental benefit.

Figure 5 - ABCD Classification for recycled paper

The ABCD classification system indicates the percentage of each type of waste used in the paper. Paper marked 25B/50C contains 25% B waste, 50% C waste and 25% virgin paper.

Thames Water Plc

Thames Water Plc uses recycled paper for its calendars, reviews and annual reports. Using recycled paper on high profile items illustrates a clear commitment to recycling.

NatWest

NatWest uses recycled paper for some letters, business cards and cheque book covers.