Tuesday 21 February 2023

‘Online passports have saved almost 2,000 trees’

‘Online passports have saved almost 2,000 trees’

HM Passport Office switching the passport application process online rather than through paper has saved more than 1,800 trees.

That’s according to data collected by Passport Photo Online, which claims the decision to go paperless has saved more than 70,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide from being emitted.

Acquiring information from the Passport Office, the analysis revealed that every month in 2021 the number of people using the online platform grew and consistently dwarfed the number using the postal option.

In September and October 2021 combined for example, more than 700,000 people ventured online to get their new passports whilst just 30,000 went to the post office.

The use of the portal grew again last year with the end of 2022 figures sitting at more than 5.6 million online applications and 173,000 from the post office.

In addition to the carbon savings, this shift has also preserved 3.5 million litres of water, the analysis alleges – given that to make one A4 sheet of paper, 0.24 litres of water is needed.

The researchers caveat their findings with the fact they are estimations made based upon the data received from HM Passport Office.

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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