Papieratlas is an organization active in promoting sustainable paper procurement in cities, counties and universities since the year 2008. This campus project is part of the IPR paper recycling initiative conducted in partnership with the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUV), the Federal Environment Agency and the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV).
The project aim is to document the true extent to which recycled paper bearing the “Blue Angel” environmental seal is used.
Papieratlas holds an annual competition to motivate cities and universities to use recycled paper in the context of public procurement. The University of Bonn joined the competition this year, in which 229 other universities, cities and municipalities took part. The University is thus making an important contribution to protecting the climate and natural resources, as using recycled paper means up to 60% less energy and up to 70% less water are used than to produce fresh fiber paper—and with lower climate-unfriendly CO2 emissions . Using waste paper as a raw material is also important to reduce logging demand on forests.
Making these changes allowed the University of Bonn to save 600,000 liters of water and 140,000 kWh of energy last year!
By participating in the competition our institution underscores its commitment to increasing the use of recycled paper and reducing paper consumption.
For further information on Papieratlas and the results of this year's university competition go here.