Paper towels or hand driers

So which is better? Paper towels or hand driers? Which is the more hygienic option? The cheaper option? Let’s find out… Cost + efficiency + environmental sustainability The paper towel manufacturers and the hand dryer designers fight their corners vigorously. They don’t agree on which is the better product – but they do agree on the main factors that influence consumer preferences: environmental sustainability, efficiency and economic cost. All sorts of studies have been carried out to try and find a definitive winner, so we’re going to give you the most objective summary we possibly can… Eco-friendliness First, what impact do paper towels have on the environment? In the manufacturing process, trees are destroyed and wood must be transported to factories where it is then made into the paper towels we see in restrooms. Concerns about deforestation probably don’t apply here; the wood usually comes from sustainable commercial forests. However, the high environmental cost of the manufacturing process is an issue. Fossil fuels are burnt to supply the electrical energy needed for both the manufacturing and packaging processes. Then there is the cost of transport from factory to purchaser. And of course, none of these are one-off costs; paper towels will require constant replenishment throughout their use. When considering the overall environmental cost we must also take into account what happens to a paper towel once it’s been used. Although it is not possible to include all accounts of paper towel disposal in this article, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of paper towels are not recycled. And that presents a problem when the paper towels are sent to landfill… Because paper towels are made of organic material, they release harmful greenhouse gases such as methane when they begin to decompose. This is a massive problem in the USA where 2% of total landfill is made up of paper towels. There’s another problem... Paper towels don’t fall apart when they get wet. (They wouldn’t work very well if they did.) That means they don’t break down; they actually retain their structure in the mulching process. So what do you do with them? Composting isn’t really an option because paper towels are used on such a large scale. At the moment there simply isn’t an effective way to deal with used paper towels. So although it’s difficult to take all the environmental factors concerned with paper towel usage into account, we can conclude that paper towels certainly leave a significant carbon footprint. The environmental impact of hand dryers? What about the environmental impact of hand dryers? A standard hand dryer will use around 1.5Kw (per hour of use) and is said (by Slate magazine) to typically last for around 10 years. Clearly, some electricity will be used to supply a hand dryer once it’s installed. But how does that compare to electricity used to produce and transport paper towels? The CO2 emissions are lower for hand dryers. There is a one-off delivery of a dryer, compared with ongoing supply of new stocks of paper towels. And no further upkeep is required. On that basis, the hand dryer is the more environmentally friendly option. In fact, studies have shown that a hand dryer is nearly three times more eco-friendly, producing nearly a third of the CO2 that paper towels create. In addition there is absolutely no rubbish disposal associated with using electric hand dryers, thereby saving landfill space and reducing amounts of harmful greenhouses gases emitted into the atmosphere. It has also been found that during the productive life span of the average hand dryer, around 24 fewer trees are cut down than would be felled if paper towels were being used instead. On the other hand, a hand dryer is clearly more complex than a carbon based paper towel; more materials are required to make one machine. Many of these can now be recycled. Which is more efficient? The suggestion has been made by several paper towel manufacturers that in the manufacturing and industrial sector, the hand dryer may actually decrease the company’s overall productivity. Why? Because only one person can use a hand dryer at any one time, whereas paper towels can be used by several people simultaneously. But is that really the case? The rapid increases in technology have helped make hand dryers more effective. Some models can even dry wet hands in under 10 seconds. Drying one’s hands with a paper towel may take longer. The winner in terms of lower environmental impact and higher efficiency must therefore be the electric hand dryer. Economic cost Clearly the initial cost of a hand dryer surpasses the paper towel. But it is also true that most efficient hand dryers will pay for themselves in under a year. That’s based on the conservative assumption that the unit will be used over 100 times per day. Without factoring in the cost of rubbish bags and maintenance, an average size company will spend around £2,000 a year. By comparison, the initial cost of an electric hand dryer and an annual operating cost of around £60 is a much smaller price to pay. Conclusion In conclusion, these factors are all interdependent when determining which method of hand drying is most appropriate for your situation. But it is clear that it is necessary to encourage the development of hand dryers; the continual advances in technology are key in providing long-term environmental sustainability and ongoing efficiency.

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