The United States produces and consumes about one-third of the world's paper. Every envelope that is reused cuts in half the amount of paper required to package shipments. The bank's contracts with major suppliers of forms provided a financial incentive for the suppliers to help the bank find ways to reduce the quantity bought. Recycling and Buying Recycled. Ultimately, one cannot work without the other.
Recycling has many environmental benefits.
It creates an alternative source of fiber that reduces the overall demand for wood and lessens the pressure to convert natural forests to tree plantations. At the mill, manufacturing paper from recycled content is generally a cleaner, less resource-intensive process than making paper from wood fiber, since much of the work of separating fibers from wood, bleaching the pulp, and so on was done the first time around. Finally, well-designed recycling programs, especially in the commercial sector, can reduce the costs of trash collection and disposal and extend the life of available landfills. Bank of America Corporation has initiated a nationwide paper recycling program, the legacy of parts of both merger partners' earlier paper recycling efforts. Depending on paper prices, the bank can actually earn money by recycling paper.