Paper versus digital manuals (A CO2 comparison)

Hamburg, Germany - August 20, 2024 - Manuals are ubiquitous. Whether for electrical appliances, furniture or software - there is usually a printed manual next to the product. However, these are unnecessary CO2 emitters. To back up the debate with figures, ProjectWizards GmbH calculated the CO2 footprint of various manuals. They compared different paper sizes, page counts and paper types.

The CO2 footprint of a printed manual

The production of a 100-page manual in DIN A6 format on recycled paper generates 0.86 kg of CO2. This calculation only includes production and printing. Delivery, disposal and energy consumption for document production are not included.

A print run of 10,000 manuals, which is common in industry, therefore generates 8.6 tons of CO2. By way of comparison, a commuter emits 1.5 tons of CO2 per year according to the Quarks analysis from 2020. The production of these manuals corresponds to the annual journeys of around 5.7 commuters.

Here is the full calculation: https://www.adoc-studio.app/de/blog/co2-calculation-paper-manuals

The advantages of online documentation

The switch to digital manuals is more sustainable. QR codes on packaging could simply link to the manual. Digital manuals allow for interactive graphics or videos. Adaptations and iterations of the manual can be continuously issued to all customers. The document can also be personalized and tailored to the customer.

About ProjectWizards

ProjectWizards GmbH is a decentralized company headquartered in Melle, Germany, that has been developing and distributing productivity software for over 20 years. With over 150,000 software licenses sold to customers in 160 countries worldwide, the company is one of the market leaders for project management software on macOS, iPadOS and iOS. Its new adoc Studio software has been on the market since 2024 and offers the first integrated writing environment for AsciiDoc on the Mac, iPad and iPhone.

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