- Title
- Paper recycling patterns and potential interventions in the education sector: A case study of paper streams at Rhodes University, South Africa
- Creator
- Amutenya, N
- Creator
- Shackleton, Charlie M
- Creator
- Whittington-Jones, Kevin J
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date Issued
- 2009
- Date
- 2009
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181180
- Identifier
- vital:43705
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2008.12.001"
- Description
- This paper considers the use of paper by academics and student computer laboratories at Rhodes University as a basis for identifying areas to reduce the amounts used and increase rates of recycling. A sample of 50 academic staff monitored the volume and purpose of the paper they used over 5 months, and the procurement officers in all the academic departments were interviewed regarding the total amount of paper used per academic department. Mean use was 34 ± 20 new sheets of paper per working day, of which 3% were trashed, 15% were kept for later use (as scrap or printed on the opposite side) and 79% were given out as notes to students, filed as records or posted out as mail to other departments or institutions. There was a significant relationship between number of students served by a department and the overall demand for paper, as well the number of staff per department and the number of recycling bins. The university could save approximately US$ 7000 per year for every 10% reduction in current use of paper (12,784 reams/year). Reduction in paper usage could be achieved through an increase in re-use of paper, printing handouts for students on both sides of each sheet of paper and by investing in printers that are capable of printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. Double-sided printers are only 20–25% more expensive than single-sided ones, but will potentially reduce paper usage by half. A 40% reduction would save the university approximately US $ 20,000 per year in direct costs, and more in reduced waste streams, as well as help promote the environmental image of the university. On a per unit basis, the higher costs for a double-sided printer in offices would be repaid in 9 months or less through reduced paper use.
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (6 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Resources, Conservation and Recycling
- Relation
- Amutenya, N., Shackleton, C.M. and Whittington-Jones, K., 2009. Paper recycling patterns and potential interventions in the education sector: A case study of paper streams at Rhodes University, South Africa. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 53(5), pp.237-242
- Relation
- Resources, Conservation and Recycling volume 53 number 5 p. 237 2009 0921-3449
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Elsevier Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.elsevier.com/legal/elsevier-website-terms-and-conditions)
- Rights
- Closed Access
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Collections
RU Department of Environmental Science
RU Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology
Whittington-Jones, Kevin (Dr)
Shackleton, Charles Michael (Distinguished Prof)
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Paper recycling patterns and potential interventions in the education sector A case study of paper streams at Rhodes University, South Africa.pdf | 760 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |