TD Bank Announces Closed Loop Paper Recycling Program

You may not remember the last time you wrote a check—in fact, the United Kingdom is eliminating paper checks by 2018—but the financial sector still uses its share of paper.  No matter how much effort goes into establishing paper-free offices, paper reports will always exist—quite frankly because many of us would rather stare at paper than a computer screen.  Old habits die hard.

An office recycling program may be hyper-aggressive, but plenty of paper still ends up in the landfill.  One bank is working to reverse that trend.  Last week, New Jersey-based TD Bank, a subsidiary of the eponymous Canadian banking giant, announced that it was implementing a closed loop paper recycling system for the companies’ operations in the United States and Canada.

Working with the paper manufacturer, Boise, Inc., TD claims that this new program will prevent about 1500 metric tons of paper from ending up in municipal landfill.  Working together, Boise and TD bank will take the following steps:

• As a customer of Boise, TD Bank will purchase and then use the paper.
• Working with another vendor, Iron Mountain, the paper, including reports that are confidential, will go through shredders.
• Waste brokers, in this case Recycle America and Waste Management, will haul the shredded paper to Boise, which will recycle and process the paper.
• That paper is then returned to TD Bank for another round of use:  hence the closed-loop moniker.

Previously, TD Bank purchased about 3500 metric tons of Forest Stewardship Council certified paper annually.  From now on, about 1050 metric tons of recycled paper will be recycled annually to create that 3500 metric tons that the bank requires each year—and TD Bank promises about 1500 metric tons of shredded material will be shipped to its partner vendors in order to maintain an accurate supply.

About 43,000 trees a year, or 300 million sheets of paper, will be saved each year if the program goes as planned.

TD Bank did not disclose any cost savings as the result, but is part of the firm’s commitment to greening its operations.  One of the United States’ largest purchasers of renewable energy, TD Bank made the EPA Green Power List for the first time.

Will other financial services firms follow?

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