Trevor Sargent
Ceist:64 Mr. Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the quantity of paper used, the quantity of recycled paper used and the quantities of post-consumer paper recycled by his Department.
Written Answers. - Paper Supply.
The Department of Foreign Affairs controls its usage of paper in terms of price rather than volume and a calculation of the total quantity of paper used is not available.
A small amount of recycled paper is currently used by the Department. With a view to increasing usage, tests have been carried out within the Department on a number of samples of recycled paper. As and when a product is identified which meets minimum quality standards at a reasonable cost, the Department will be happy to increase its use of such paper.
Almost all the waste paper generated by the Department in its Dublin offices is recycled; the Department has a contract with a private firm for this purpose.