Will the Paperless Office ever Happen?

Office copy paper has been declining in demand since its high of 1999. While the paper used in a ‘white collar’ office has steadily declined – consumption for the home use / home office steadily increases. Office Paper growth increased approximately 6-7% per year in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Then, suddenly, it stopped growing and remains at 5.5million tons per year. The household consumption of office papers is slightly less than 20% of the total demand. Reports indicate that household consumption remained steady – at 5 pound per household from 1975 through 1995. Since 1995 the average household demand is nearly 18 pounds per year or about 3 reams (500 sheets of 8 1/2x11”). Therefore, with 115million households in USA – we estimate SOHO at 1million tons. By way of comparison, average office worker consumes about 125 pounds/year or 4.5million tons. We forecast that office papers will begin to decline because of computer technology, higher cost, less employment, younger people simply using less paper, and changes in cultural habits.
More offices and households are purchasing office supplies, including paper, from the Internet. Paper.com has nearly 20,000 paper items on site – many for the office environment.