This move by British Telecom is part of its attempts to improve its environmental performance by signing up to the Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code, run by market development agency London Remade.
Last year BT consumed 1,298 tonnes of copier paper – nearly 3,000 sheets per employee. BT will now use M-real's paper, which has at least 70% recycled content, for printing and copying in all its offices in the UK and Northern Ireland.
Malcolm Scott of BT corporate procurement partners said: “This is a major breakthrough for BT. With assistance from London Remade, we have sourced an environmentally friendly copier paper manufactured locally in the UK that is made to high environmental standards but with no compromise in quality.”
London Remade’s team of Mayor’s Green Procurement Code Brokers are now supporting over 300 companies who have signed up to increase their use of recycled products and develop more sustainable procurement practices.
Tina Perfrement, market development manager at London Remade, said major companies showing their commitment to green procurement will help increase the market for recycled products and encourage more investment in recycling.
She said: “The buy-recycled message is a tough one to get across. The buy-in from market leaders such as BT is crucial to normalising the procurement of recycled products within offices across the country and making recycling worthwhile by creating a market demand for the resultant products.”
M-Real's recycled Evolve brand of office paper is manufactured in Sittingbourne, Kent, using waste paper sourced from workplaces in the south east of England.
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