State agencies shift to 100 percent recycled paper

New requirement conserves resources, preserves jobs

July 23, 2009

OLYMPIA - All state agencies with 25 or more employees will be required to purchase 100 percent recycled white office paper for use in printers and copiers by the end of this year. The requirement is the result of legislation that goes into effect July 26. Additionally, state agencies will be required to reach a target of at least 30 percent overall reduction in paper use by next July.

Rep. Lynn Kessler (D – Hoquiam) sponsored the measure during the 2009 Legislative Session in order to reduce waste, conserve resources, and protect family-wage paper mill jobs.

“When it comes to conservation, government has to be first to walk the walk,” Kessler said. “By being more efficient with our paper usage, we save money that will add up to significant savings over time.”

The national economic slowdown has adversely affected Washington’s pulp-and-paper industry, but the new law could be a welcome boost to manufacturers of recycled office paper.

“Right here in Grays Harbor we have a paper mill that produces 100 percent recycled paper products in an energy efficient way,” Kessler said. “We want to do everything we can to preserve jobs in this industry and make it viable now and into the future.”

Both the state Department of Ecology and the City of Seattle have successfully been using 100 percent recycled office paper. Neither has experienced any problems with the recycled paper jamming copiers or printers more than standard paper, and both have seen a measurable cost savings.

Kessler’s bill is HB 2287. It passed the Legislature nearly unanimously and was signed by the Governor in May.