Save hundreds of trees with a simple digital solution
The paper industry is globally in the top 5 industries in regard to energy consumption and toxic emissions!
Published February 27, 2023
Do you know how polluting the paper industry actually is?
The paper industry is globally in the top 5 industries in regard to energy consumption and toxic emissions. This means that the use of paper is not energy efficient and on top of that, the manufacturing process implies the release of chemicals into the air and water.
Paper comes from trees. So deforestation is inevitable to supply the pulp and paper industry. But there’s more to the manufacturing of this material. According to World of Chemicals, there are around 3000 chemicals used in the paper production process to obtain fiber and ultimately paper from wood (such as chlorine, benzene, mercury, and sulfur compounds). The manufacturing process can cause hazardous air pollutants to be released from the mil, and water pollution from contaminated discharges.
Water consumption is also a metric worth discussing. How much water do you think is used to produce a single A4 paper sheet? A few drops? A bottle? Can you believe that the production of ONE piece of paper actually uses between 2 and 13 liters of water?
Paper continues to impact the environment even after it has been thrown away, and no, we are not talking just about landfill space. Once in a landfill, the paper decomposes and produces methane, a greenhouse gas with 21 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide (according to the United Nations Environment Programme).
Tons of paper produced this year
What can you do about it (as a business)?
The solution is plain and simple: transition from a paper-based system to a digital alternative. Instead of the piles of paper documents covering your desk, you can opt for an electronic signature. Think about it not only as an environmentally conscious choice but as an advantageous alternative for your company as well. E-signatures are faster, easier, and cheaper than traditional document handling procedures. Plus, they’re non-dependent on location, which in a remote-first world is a huge advantage. An electronic signature allows digital documents to be signed quickly, easily, and under maximum security conditions, having the same legal value as a handwritten signature. You can use e-signatures to sign any type of contract (e.g. employment contract), electronic invoices, etc. Can’t find the perfect e-Signature solution? With over 8 million pages saved through digital signature implementation projects over the years, we can guide you through this decision. We work with multiple providers so finding the right one according to your business’s core requirements would be no problem. What’s stopping you from doing what’s best for you and the planet at the same time? If you don’t know where to start your electronic signature journey, contact us. You’ll be surprised to see how easy saving trees actually is. Sources:- Erin Fitzgerald, 2020, EPA Must Regulate All Toxic Air Emissions From Pulp Mills, Earthjustice;
- Furszyfer Del Rio, D. D., Sovacool, B. K., Griffiths, S., Bazilian, M., Kim, J., Foley, A. M., & Rooney, D., 2022 Decarbonizing the pulp and paper industry: A critical and systematic review of sociotechnical developments and policy options;
- Matthias Okoro, 2012, Environmental impact analysis of pulp and paper production
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