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How much paper is your business using?

Most people have heard about climate change these days. It seems like the world is starting to realize that climate action has to be taken now. There is one little thing that we can all do to help: reduce the use of paper.

Paper products have accompanied our civilization for millennia. According to worldcounts.com, the world produces more than one million tons of paper every single day. For comparison, the Grand Pyramid of Khufu weighs around 6 million tons. Ok, so we manufacture a lot of paper, so what? Well, the paper industry like almost everything else has its downside.

Look at a plain A4 sheet of paper. Now, imagine that 10 liters of water were used to make it. And it’s not just water, the paper industry is the 5th largest consumer of energy in the world. Knowing that most of our energy is still coming from fossil fuels, this fact says a lot. Another problem with paper production is that most of it is coming from trees. It is estimated that the paper industry uses between 33-40% of all industrial wood globally. Despite sustainable forestry practices being widely used in many areas, the paper and pulp industry remains a significant contributor to global deforestation problems.

What about recycling? It is true that paper is recyclable, but it is not recycled as much as you may think. Paper products account for a whopping 25% of global landfill waste (even more, according to some data). There, they slowly decompose releasing greenhouse gasses and harmful chemicals.

With all that said, HansaWorld believes that everyone needs to reduce their paper usage. This is a small step that each of us can, and should, take towards a more sustainable future. Consider your company’s paper usage. On average, paper makes up around 50% of a business’ waste. It is fairly easy to reduce this amount, and HansaWorld are an example of this. For many years, we have been working to reduce our company’s paper usage, starting by opting to receive electronic statements from banks, suppliers, etc. Next, we developed processes and technologies that allow us to significantly reduce the amount of paper documents.

Today, we are working to help other businesses reduce their paper usage. HansaWorld’s Digital Office Suite allows businesses to store, access, and share documents electronically. Standard ERP’s Business Approvals module allows users to request and grant approvals quickly and efficiently without a single page printed. Several of our customers have already gotten rid of their old print-scan processes and have noticed how much their business operations have improved.

Daniel Juncal, CEO of Argentinian company BAS&IS, which is actively using Standard ERP’s Document Manager commented on how storing documents digitally made things easier: 

"We deal with a lot of documents every day: project documentation, certificates, invoices, purchase orders, receipts, and more. They are all stored in one place and attached to the corresponding job records. Moreover, many of these documents are attached automatically”.

While getting rid of just one or two printed business documents may not seem like much, it is still progress. Contact our local partners and find out how HansaWorld products can help your business reduce your paper operations. Let's make our planet better together.