Paper production requires a significant amount of water. One sheet of paper requires between two and 13 liters; one kilogram of paper, 50 liters; and one ton of paper, up to 2,700 liters. The environmental impact doesn’t stop there, as it also involves deforestation and CO2 emissions. It is estimated that one ton of paper requires the felling of 24 trees and generates 942 kilos of carbon dioxide.
These eloquent data on the impact on the environment and the growing scarcity of resources highlight the importance of a “paperless” policy, that is, replacing physical document flows with technological tools that allow for their management, but in a completely digital format. The transition to this model optimizes companies’ resources and consolidates the urgent need to preserve natural resources as an ethical imperative. It is also part of Corporate Social Responsibility, understood as the voluntary commitment of companies to sustainable development, taking responsibility for their economic, social, and environmental impact on the communities where they operate.
In this scenario, digitalization emerges as a fundamental tool for organizations committed to the future of the planet. Despapeliza, a company founded in Chile with a presence in Latin America and the United States and specializing in intelligent document automation solutions, has experience where digitalization has saved up to 10 million liters of water. Its general manager, Rodrigo Mortara, highlights the positive impact of automation: “As a reference, we have managed, on average, 90,000 documents per month, which contributes to a saving of more than 1.5 million liters of water. Some of our clients have reduced tons of paper use, equivalent to a saving of more than 50,000 liters of water per client,” he emphasizes. He also explains that a legal document, three to four pages long, requires up to 15 or 20 times the water a human consumes daily.
World Recycling Day, May 17, invites us to reflect on the importance of promoting technologies to build a sustainable future. Rodrigo Mortara highlights the country’s leadership in this area, although he suggests there are opportunities for improvement: “In Chile, where we have achieved important initiatives at the regulatory and public policy levels to address the climate crisis, we have significant room for improvement in the digitalization of legal documentation.”
Some contributions include reducing paper and wood consumption (less tree felling), as well as reducing the environmental footprint associated with paper production in terms of energy and water. It also reduces the carbon footprint of document transport and eliminates waste that ends up in landfills. It’s worth noting that, according to estimates, 70% of office waste is paper.
Paper production has an alarming environmental impact that extends beyond water consumption and is a cause of global deforestation. Each year, 419.1 million tons of paper and cardboard are produced. One ton of paper requires between 2 and 3.5 tons of wood (28 to 49 trees). The company Despapeliza has prevented the loss of 144,000 trees thanks to its projects in more than 100 companies.
Adopting “paperless” is environmentally responsible and a smart strategy for optimizing company management, eliminating inefficiencies and costs. On average, an employee spends 67 minutes a day searching for physical documents (more than five hours a week). A document is copied 19 times, and nearly 20% of an office space is used for document storage, including rental and maintenance costs. Annual printing expenditures for a firm in the United States amount to US$120 million. The problem is amplified when considering that US$8 billion is spent annually on paper management, according to Forbes.
For experts, there are compelling reasons to value the transition to “paperless.” Water conservation, tree protection, and corporate savings are some of the indicators that demonstrate this.