More than half of Russians have a responsible attitude toward paper consumption. But only 6% work in organizations that went completely paperless.
MOSCOW, October 22, 2020. To mark World Paper Free Day, Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings a study devoted the attitudes of Russians towards responsible use of paper.
Responsible use of paper
Most of Russians try to reduce paper consumption (64% of respondents).
The most common practices to reduce paper consumption are as follows: reading documents/books in a digital format (33%; more often young respondents aged 18-24 — 58%), printing pages double sided or reusing one-side used paper (32%; often women - 39% vs 23% men) and/or avoiding unnecessary printing (21%; often youth aged 18-34). Thirteen percent of Russians hand over the waste paper: they are mainly women (17% vs 9% men) and young people aged 25-34 (20%). One-third of Russians (33%) do nothing to reduce paper consumption.
Digital vs paper workflow
A vast majority of the working Russians say their workflows are simultaneously digital and paper (86%). Only 6% of respondents say that their office is paperless; 3% use paper workflows.
Those respondents who use paper and digital workflows at work were asked to specify which format is more common. Opinions were equally divided: 30% of respondents think that the digital workflow is dominant, whereas 28% say that paper format is more common; more than one-third of respondents failed to provide an answer (38%).
Almost half of Russians (49%) reporting to combine digital and paper workflows at work are confident that the organizations they work for could reduce paper consumption; those who think so are mainly male respondents (53% vs 45% of women) and private sector employees (54% vs 44% of public sector employees). More than one-third of respondents (38%) believe that it is impossible to reduce paper-based workflow; they are basically women (42% vs 33% of men).
Russian nationwide VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on October 16, 2020. Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,600 Russians aged 18 and older. Stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of Russian landline and mobile phone numbers was used. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
World Paper Free Day is marked in late October. Do you personally try to reduce paper consumption, or not? If so, how is it manifested? (closed-ended question, any number of answers, % of total respondents) | ||||||||
| Total respondents | Men
| Women
| Aged 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 and over |
I hand out the waste paper | 13 | 9 | 17 | 9 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 9 |
I try to print double sided or reuse one-side used papers (for notes, drafts) | 32 | 23 | 39 | 24 | 42 | 37 | 39 | 19 |
I try not to print out documents if not needed | 21 | 21 | 21 | 31 | 32 | 25 | 21 | 7 |
I try to read certain documents/books in a digital format | 33 | 34 | 32 | 58 | 42 | 36 | 35 | 15 |
I do nothing special | 33 | 36 | 31 | 24 | 25 | 30 | 28 | 49 |
Other | 7 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
Don’t know | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
What type of workflow does the organization you work for use: only paper-based/only digital/ or both paper and digital? (closed-ended question, one answer % of total respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Only paper-based | 3 |
Only digital | 6 |
Both paper and digital | 86 |
I do not work in the office / I work remotely, from home | 1 |
Don’t know | 4 |
You have said that the company or organization you work for combines paper-based and digital workflows. Which type of workflow is dominant, in your opinion? (closed-ended question, one answer % of those who combine paper and digital workflows at work) | |
| % of those who combine paper and digital workflows at work |
Likely paper-based | 28 |
Likely digital | 30 |
It is difficult to say | 38 |
Don’t know | 4 |
Do you think that the company or organization you work for could reduce paper consumption or not? (closed-ended question, one answer % of those who combine paper and digital workflows or use only paper-based approach at work) | ||||||
| % of those who combine paper and digital workflows or use only paper-based approach at work) | Men | Women | Private sector employee | Public sector employee | Don’t know |
Likely yes | 49 | 53 | 45 | 54 | 44 | 35 |
Likely no | 38 | 33 | 42 | 37 | 40 | 31 |
Don’t know | 13 | 14 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 34 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory.