| Ken Livingstone
today asked London’s businesses to join with the GLA in signing
up to BioRegional’s local paper for london scheme –
which saves money as well as the environment.
This “get your own back”
initiative involves offices recycling their paper to the local mill,
buying it back again and pledging to reduce their paper consumption.
150 organisations have already joined since it was launched by Ken
last November, resulting in 700 tonnes of paper being diverted from
landfill and bought back as local recycled paper - creating 7 new
jobs so far.
local paper for london can save
businesses money. The first organisation to join, Direct Line in
Croydon have cut their paper bill by 20%. This is through the 100%
local recycled paper being cheaper than their former paper, and
through not having to pay trade waste charges now that their recycled
paper is collected.
Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone
has just announced that the GLA has joined the scheme – quote
to follow.
London offices churn through ¾
million tonnes of office and printing paper a year. BioRegional,
who run the local paper for london scheme, have just carried out
a survey which found that:
· 41% of London offices still admit to throwing paper in
the bin instead of recycling it.
· Even more, 77%, say they never buy recycled office paper.
· Large businesses with a turnover of between £2-5
million are the worst offenders with only 25% of them recycling
their paper and none buying recycled. Only 15% of them make any
attempt to reduce their paper use.
The World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF) are backing the scheme. Head of Forests for Life at WWF, Jean-Paul
JeanRenaud said,
“Office paper use is impacting
on the world’s forests. 20% of the paper we use comes from
threatened natural forests, while we are throwing away good paper
which could be recycled.”
The news that the GLA have joined
coincides with the production of a promotional video which is being
mailed to 350 London companies today with a joint letter from WWF
and BioRegional in a bid to get more organisations to join the scheme.
Offices who want to join should
call the Local Paper for London line on 020 8404 4884, or email
localpaper@bioregional.com.
Notes
Local Paper for London is a sustainable
local paper cycle scheme for office paper. Once joined up to the
scheme, office’s recycle their white office paper to the local
paper mill, UK Paper in Sittingbourne, Kent, and buy back the top
quality 100% local recycled paper.
This local cycle reduces transport
to a minimum, therefore contributing far less to global warming
than importing wood pulp to make paper. And why import this raw
material when we are putting four million tonnes of top quality
white paper in landfill sites every year?
Offices on Local Paper for London
also learn about handy tips to reduce office paper use, vital as
the UK’s paper use has doubled in the last 15 years. This
puts pressure on forests worldwide, with 20-30% of the world’s
old-growth forests being destroyed every year.
And jobs in London benefit too,
with a new job in paper recycling created for every 21 new members
on the Local Paper for London scheme.
The scheme is backed by EB Nationwide
Limited with donations from Shanks under the landfill tax credit
scheme; and by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
BioRegional are a rapidly expanding
environmental organisation based in south London with 18 employees.
BioRegional aim to make sustainable living easy, attractive and
affordable through the initiatives they are developing in partnership
with business and industry which cover paper, wood products, textiles,
plant oils, food, energy and Europe’s largest eco-housing
and green lifestyle development – ZED.
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