As we head into the New Year many of the same old environmental problems still exist one of them being paper waste. One of the oldest products in the world paper has forever been ingrained in societies across the world making it a very difficult task to end the reliance on such a utensil. Now that we are becoming more informed about environmental issues and how paper waste impacts many of those problems it becomes even more critical in 2023 that we not only educate ourselves on the damage that paper waste causes but also look into our own personal lives and professional businesses to find ways we can take a more environmental friendly digital paperless approach to how we manage our future. Natural resource preservation is now more important than ever before so let’s take a look at seven of the most startling paper waste statistics and facts to gain a better understanding of just how critical digital scanning and paperless document management are to the success of earth and ourselves.

Paper Waste Statistic To Ponder #1: Newspapers, Magazines, and Books

To produce each week’s Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down. If all the newspapers distributed were recycled, we could save approximately 250 million trees each year! Every year more than 24 billion newspapers, 350 million magazines, and 2 billion books are published in the US.

Paper Waste Statistic To Ponder #2: American Businesses

American businesses use around 21 million tons of paper – with about 750,000 copies made every minute. In the last 20 years, the usage of paper products in the US reached 208 million tons (up from 92 million), which is a growth of 126%. 50% of the waste of businesses is composed of paper. U.S. offices use 12.1 trillion sheets of paper a year.

Paper Waste Statistic To Ponder #3: Households

The average household discards 13,000 separate pieces of paper each year. Most is product packaging and junk mail. The amount of wood and paper we dispose of each year is enough to heat 50,000 homes for 20 years.

Paper Waste Statistic To Ponder #4: Packaging

Out of every $10 spent purchasing things, $1 (10%) goes for packaging that is thrown away. Packaging represents about 65% of residential trash.

Paper Waste Statistic To Ponder #5: Global Usage

To account for the global demand paper production volumes currently exceed 300 million metric tons per year. This statistic rises to over 400 million when we look at the combined paper and cardboard data.

Paper Waste Statistic To Ponder #6: Landfills

Paper accounts for around 26% of total waste at landfills. Paper accounts for around 26% of landfill waste and 33% of municipal waste. In 2018, landfills received 17.2 million tons of MSW paper and paperboard. This was 11.8 percent of MSW landfilled in 2018.

Paper Waste Statistic To Ponder #7: Trees and Forests

From 2010 to 2060, the global consumption of pulp and paper is expected to double. From 2001 to 2019, a total of 386 million hectares of forest were destroyed globally (in all forest types combined). This loss represents an almost 10 % decrease in tree cover since 2000. 42% of all global wood harvest is used to make paper.

As you can see from the above paper waste statistics it is clear we need to find paperless document management solutions sooner than later. What steps will you be taking in 2023 to reduce your carbon and paper footprint?