UK companies scored for paper efficiency

A scorecard is published today (27 May 2009) ranking 20 major UK companies on the efficiency of their paper use. Top of the pack is financial company Standard Life, with catalogue retailers Boden and Freemans at the bottom.

Shrink project co-ordinator Mandy Haggith said, “We challenged some of the biggest paper users in the UK to cut their paper consumption by 50%. One year on our results show that fewer than half of our target companies are on the right track and most are wasting paper. Standard Life is setting a great ‘standard’, cutting its paper use by 20% since 2006 and both saving money and reducing their carbon footprint from their paper use. But most of the companies have failed to take up the challenge. The catalogue sector is particularly wasteful.”

The scorecard shows some magazine publishers such as Haymarket and IPC Media performing well, having taken steps to reduce unsold magazines and increase printing efficiency. Much of the financial sector is taking paper efficiency seriously. But supermarkets and catalogue companies perform woefully.

Mandy Haggith said, “Catalogue retailers and supermarkets need to wake up and take action to tackle the most pointless and unpopular forms of paper waste: packaging and junk mail.”

Robert Rijkhoff of the Stop Junk Mail campaign (www.stopjunkmail.org.uk) said, “The Shrink project confirms what many householders know all too well. There are still many companies out there that simply aim to post as much unsolicited mail through our letterboxes as possible. The example of Standard Life shows just how outdated and senseless this practice is. Let’s hope Shrink’s findings will encourage companies such as Boden and Freemans to clean up their act.”

Rachel Turner of Standard Life said, "Consuming less paper makes commercial as well as environmental sense.  Our reduction is a result of the enthusiastic support of our people who have joined Green Teams all over our business, changing print processes and the way we design documents.  However, it's by encouraging our customers and shareholders to deal with us on-line that has had the most significant impact.  We've found that these groups are extremely keen to reduce the volume of mail they get on their doormats and so we're working with them to change the way we keep in touch."

The UK consumes more than 4 times as much paper per person as the world average, and far too much of this is wasteful. Paper production, use and disposal is linked to forest destruction, water pollution and human rights abuses and it causes three times as much climate change emissions as aviation.

Contact: Mandy Haggith. Phone: +44 (0)1571 844020, mobile +44(0)7734 235704. Email: hag@worldforests.org