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Posted in technical writing.

The CO2 Footprint of Paper Manuals

Marvin Blome – .

Find out how much CO2 is generated during the production of manuals. Is switching to digital manuals the way to a sustainable future?

Manuals are everywhere. Whether it's an electrical appliance, a piece of furniture or software — in most cases you will still find a printed guide inside the box. Millions of manuals exist worldwide and – despite decades of digital transformation – print remains the default. But what about sustainability?

Paper Production

Manuals vary widely in format (DIN A6–A3) and page count (20–200). To calculate their embodied emissions we first determine weight, then multiply by published cradle‑to‑gate factors.

  • 80 g/m2 paper: 1.225 g (A6) → 9.8 g (A3) per sheet [Calculatas]

  • Carbon factors: 0.7 kg CO2/kg (100 % recycled) and 1.2 kg CO2/kg (virgin fibre)

(Formulas created in adoc Studio)

Using the factors above the paper production of a DIN A6 manual ranges from 0.02 kg CO2 (20 pages, recycled) up to 0.37 kg CO2 (200 pages, virgin). For DIN A3 the span is 0.16 kg – 1.57 kg CO2. Full tables are attached below.

Emissions During Printing

Most of a desktop laser printer’s energy is consumed while warming up and fusing toner; page area has little impact. Recent measurements by ezeep put the average at 1 g CO2 per printed page for typical European electricity mixes. In the first version of this post we mistakenly added 5.15 g CO2 on top of the paper emissions, effectively double‑counting. The factor has now been corrected.

(Formulas created in adoc Studio)

We ignore indirect logistics, binding and end‑of‑life impacts to keep the comparison concise. The following table shows the total emissions – paper plus printing – for recycled versus virgin fibre stock.

A6 A5 A4 A3
20 Pages 0,03 kg CO2 - 0,03 kg CO2 0,04 kg CO2 - 0,05 kg CO2 0,05 kg CO2 - 0,08 kg CO2 0,09 kg CO2 - 0,14 kg CO2
40 Pages 0,06 kg CO2 - 0,07 kg CO2 0,07 kg CO2 - 0,10 kg CO2 0,11 kg CO2 - 0,16 kg CO2 0,18 kg CO2 - 0,28 kg CO2
60 Pages 0,09 kg CO2 - 0,10 kg CO2 0,11 kg CO2 - 0,15 kg CO2 0,16 kg CO2 - 0,24 kg CO2 0,27 kg CO2 - 0,42 kg CO2
80 Pages 0,11 kg CO2 - 0,14 kg CO2 0,15 kg CO2 - 0,20 kg CO2 0,22 kg CO2 - 0,32 kg CO2 0,36 kg CO2 - 0,56 kg CO2
100 Pages 0,14 kg CO2 - 0,17 kg CO2 0,19 kg CO2 - 0,25 kg CO2 0,27 kg CO2 - 0,40 kg CO2 0,45 kg CO2 - 0,70 kg CO2
120 Pages 0,17 kg CO2 - 0,21 kg CO2 0,22 kg CO2 - 0,30 kg CO2 0,33 kg CO2 - 0,48 kg CO2 0,54 kg CO2 - 0,84 kg CO2
140 Pages 0,20 kg CO2 - 0,24 kg CO2 0,26 kg CO2 - 0,35 kg CO2 0,38 kg CO2 - 0,56 kg CO2 0,63 kg CO2 - 0,98 kg CO2
160 Pages 0,23 kg CO2 - 0,28 kg CO2 0,30 kg CO2 - 0,40 kg CO2 0,44 kg CO2 - 0,64 kg CO2 0,72 kg CO2 - 1,12 kg CO2
180 Pages 0,26 kg CO2 - 0,31 kg CO2 0,34 kg CO2 - 0,45 kg CO2 0,49 kg CO2 - 0,72 kg CO2 0,81 kg CO2 - 1,26 kg CO2
200 Pages 0,29 kg CO2 - 0,35 kg CO2 0,37 kg CO2 - 0,50 kg CO2 0,55 kg CO2 - 0,80 kg CO2 0,90 kg CO2 - 1,40 kg CO2

The CO2 Footprint of a 100‑Page DIN A4 manual

Let’s apply the new factors to a real‑world scenario: a 100‑page DIN A4 manual printed on recycled paper.

  • Weight per A4 sheet: 4.9 g

  • Total weight: 4.9 g × 100 = 0.49 kg

  • Paper emissions: 0.49 kg × 0.7 = 0.34 kg CO2

  • Printing emissions: 100 pages × 0.001 kg = 0.10 kg CO2

  • Total: 0.44 kg CO2

Printing 10 000 copies would therefore generate roughly 4.4 t CO2 — about three years of commuting for an average German car driver (Quarks).

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