“Papieratlas“ Competition

The Papieratlas project is an annual competition organised by the Initiative Pro Recyclingpapier, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, the German Association of Cities, the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, the German County Association and the German University Association. The competition honours the most recycling-paper friendly cities, districts and universities. The university competition, in which Leibniz Universität Hannover takes part, was held for the first time in 2016. The most important criteria in the competition are paper consumption and recycling paper quotas in administration, faculties, and printing and copying services. Winner selection is also based on the participants’ contribution to increase the use of Blue Angel-certified recycled paper.

In 2022, Leibniz Universität Hannover had a total paper consumption of 1.420.000 DIN A4 sheets.

Internal instructions have been issued that departments are only allowed to buy recycled paper. In 2022, 70,42% of paper used by the university administration was recycling paper with the Blue Angel label. The use of recycled paper alone, in comparison to using virgin fibre paper, lead to a saving of 195,343 litres of water and 44,073 kWh of energy at Leibniz Universität Hannover, which corresponds to the daily drinking water needs of nearly 1,614 people and the annual energy consumption of 12 three-person households. Leibniz Universität Hannover has managed to keep its share of recycled paper constant since 2016, and has reduced paper consumption in administration from 2,240,000 sheets (2016) to 1.420.000  sheets (2022).

The Paper Atlas competition was held again this year. Results and winners are still pending and will be announced in autumn at the Federal Ministry for the Environment in Berlin.