New paper atlas: More and more municipalities are opting for the Blue Angel
RheineThe city of Rheine is one of the most recycling paper-friendly cities in Germany. With its exemplary use of Blue Angel paper, Rheine took tenth place in the Paper Atlas 2023 city competition organized by the Pro Recycling Paper Initiative. The “most recycling paper-friendly city” is Mönchengladbach. A total of 96 large and medium-sized cities took part, with an average recycled paper quota of 89 percent.
Rheine makes an important contribution to climate protection and resource conservation by using Blue Angel recycled paper. This is confirmed by the updated life cycle assessment for graphic paper published by the German Federal Environment Agency. According to the report, the city saved over 1.6 million liters of water and more than 370,000 kilowatt hours of energy last year compared to virgin fiber paper.
The Paper Atlas has been documenting paper consumption and recycled paper rates in German cities annually since 2008, in universities since 2016, and in rural districts since 2018. The cooperation partners are the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the Federal Environment Agency, the German Association of Cities, the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, the German Association of Counties, and the German Association of Universities. This year, for the first time, the Paper Atlas has reached a new record with 230 municipalities and universities participating.
All results are available for download at www.papieratlas.de.