The future of office copier paper has arrived with the UK's first 100% recycled paper to be sourced from, and delivered back to, the same customer.
The revolutionary new recycling process, developed by Banner Business Services, the managed procurement arm of the office2office group, effectively 'closes the loop' of office copier paper procurement. Used paper is collected and the data securely destroyed by the Banner Document Services' shredding service before it is turned into clean copier paper and delivered back to the original customer.
Banner is a division of office2office (o2o), the business services group. o2o Group's commercial director, Andy Craig, believes the exclusive product will be in demand from organisations keen to achieve their corporate and social responsibility objectives, help reduce their energy consumption and maximise recycling. Andy said:
"This 'closed loop' service will enable businesses and organisations to re-use and recycle their business paper time after time, without the worry of data security issues. If every business used 100% recycled copier paper we could save more than 3.9 billion KWh of energy every year.
"Recycled paper uses 60 per cent less energy and 55% less water to produce than 'virgin pulp' based copier paper and every tonne of recycled paper saves 13 mature trees. Furthermore, our Banner brand 100% recycled 'Closed Loop' product is of comparable quality and price to other recycled paper including those which use a proportion of virgin pulp in their manufacture.
"Our Closed Loop paper process provides customers with an audited, data backed process, allowing them to monitor how much paper they recycle and where their waste paper is up to in the recycling process.
"Initial feedback we have received suggests customers and their employees value the fact they are able to re-use the actual waste they created, in a sustainable way. It represents a giant step forward for environmentally aware organisations."
Total office copier paper consumption in the UK is estimated at 750,000 tonnes per year, of which only 50,000 tonnes (7%) is 100% recycled.
The total public sector consumption alone is estimated at 100,000 tonnes, with a stated objective for this to be recycled.
Andy added: "Closed Loop paper has the ability to increase both the proportion of paper recycled and the volume of recycled paper available to consume, which can only be a good thing."
Banner's 100% recycled Closed Loop paper process has been successfully trialled and used by several leading public sector organisations, including HM Revenue & Customs and the Ministry of Justice, and is also supported by the Environment Agency.