Paper and Printing

Paper is one of the most significant waste steams for our offices globally. We look at both the environmental criteria of the paper products we buy, as well as ways to reduce the amount we print and use.

We ensure our procurement decisions for paper products are consistent with our footprint commitment. In our largest office, in Washington, DC, we purchase 30-100 percent recycled content paper for all of our printing needs, and ensure it is all chlorine free, and contains no endangered, ancient, or old-growth forest content. Our internal print shop uses only soy-based inks, digital short-run and on-demand printing to reduce print runs, and Energy Star-certified copy machines with duplexing/double-sided capability. In our cafeteria, our paper napkins are made from 100 percent recycled and bleach-free paper.

Encouraging staff to print less has also been a cost-effective and realistic way to reduce our paper footprint, especially in our offices where paper recycling does not exist in the region. For example, we ask all staff to archive documents electronically, print drafts and internal copies double-sided in black and white and condense content, review drafts electronically, save unneeded one-sided copies for re-use, and avoid printing presentations — print multiple slides per page in black and white if a hard copy is required.

Information technology (IT) solutions are another part of our strategy. In Washington, DC, we have set duplex printing as the default for all printers on our network. Many departments have switching to e-faxing. We are also trialing software to enable staff to PDF and save files electronically instead of printing hard copies, as well as monitor their own savings from eliminating unnecessary printing.

Spotlight: Beijing– Created a Green Task Force

The office, the place people work and live everyday, is another arena to show determination and creativity in turning every word of IFC’s mission statement into reality. Encouraged by the dream of a Green Office, three colleagues, with support from the IFC Country Manager for China and Mongolia, Michael Ipson, have voluntarily formed a "Green Office Task Force" at the office. This voluntary Task Force will help to promote green concepts and practices and to serve as champions in the endeavor of creating an environmentally-friendly office! As a start, three initiatives have been identified: Smart User of Paper, Smart User of Electricity, and Children's Painting Contest on the environment.

Spotlight: Dhaka - Created 2008 Footprint Calendars

This year IFC-SEDF (South Asia Enterprise Development Facility) has printed 1000 calendars with a Footprint theme which are being disseminated among IFCs’ clients and partners. The main objective of the calendar is to spread the message that each and every lifestyle decision has an impact on the environment and on people world wide. Each page of the calendar has a strong message on one side, for example “It takes 24 trees to produce one ton of paper,” and the other side has suggestions about what we can do personally in our daily lives to make a difference, like reviewing electronically, and thinking before printing The calendar was designed in-house by the Footprint Team in Bangladesh. The calendar was printed on chlorine-free recycled paper, and constructed using recycled book covers. This initiative is part of IFC-SEDF’s current Footprint plan, which was awarded the Footprint Program 2007 Award, Best Innovative Future Plan. This plan involves not only IFC staff, but also surrounding community members to address local environmental concerns. IFC-SEDF believes that including everyone in our footprint efforts is necessary to achieve greater environmental benefits and to make a significant difference.

Spotlight: Responsible paper choices in IFC's Dhaka Office

The Dhaka, Bangladesh footprint team has created an action plan that includes purchasing more responsible products, as well as recycling their waste paper. After a short market survey of local companies that recycle waste paper, they found a few local companies who use the scrapped paper to make hand-made acid-free recycled paper to supply printing shops. After a bidding process, they found a firm which is now printing a few notebooks for their office on a test basis using the recycled waste paper. In the Dhaka office, they hope that staff will make a good habit of using the new hand-made notebooks made with acid-free recycled paper in their day-to-day work, and other businesses can follow suit.