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Overview

Significant quantities of waste paper are generated by restroom activities.  This waste paper is typically discarded as non-recycled trash.  When considering how to reduce paper towel waste generation, note that roll towels create less waste than multi-fold towels and air hand dryers eliminate paper towel waste. 

On average, hot air dryers require more time to dry a person's hands than paper towels (30 seconds vs. 5-10 seconds).  For this reason, hand dryers are sometimes not well accepted by restroom users.  In addition, more hot air dryers may be required to handle peak restroom use periods.  A careful evaluation of costs and benefits is required.

Life-span cost comparisons have been researched for three types of hand drying options: multi-fold paper towels, roll paper towels, and hot air dryers.  Of these three options, the most dramatic savings can be realized with the implementation of hot air hand dryers which reduce waste paper generation often saving hundreds or thousands of dollars per facility per year.  An overview of cost assumptions, annual cost comparisons, and waste generation rates are shown below. 

Benefits

In the cost comparison below, switching to hot air dryers or roll towels from multi-fold paper towels results in annual cost savings per dispenser per year of $8.70 and $8.87 respectively.  A facility having twenty-seven multi-fold dispensers could save approximately $235 per year by switching to hot air dryers and $239 by switching to roll towels.  The actual savings determined for a given facility will vary based on the volume of use, and costs for paper towels, electricity, and labor.  Cost savings related to reduced collection and disposal of waste paper have not been included but should be done on a facility-specific basis.

Attached is a financial model for comparing hand drying and roll towel options.  The model assumes multi-folded dispensers to be currently installed.  Realized savings using roll paper and hot air alternatives are higher when multi-folded dispensers have not already been installed.

WASTE GENERATION COMPARISON 
OF RESTROOM HAND-DRYING OPTIONS

WASTE GENERATION TYPE		MULTI- FOLDED	ROLL  PAPER	HOT AIR
Pounds of Waste Paper / Year / Dispenser	80.81	37.78	0

LIFE-SPAN COST COMPARISON ASSUMPTIONS
(Note: actual costs will vary.)

ASSUMPTION/CALCULATION	MULTI- FOLDED	ROLL  PAPER	HOT AIR
1. Dispenser Purchase Cost	$0.00	$37.49	$209.50
2. Number of Years of Service     / Dispenser	10	5	10
3. Number of Hours to Install a Dispenser	0.00 (assume already installed)	1.50	3.625
4. Installation Labor Cost / Hour	$17.00	$17.00	$17.00
5. Cost of installation	$0.00	$25.50	$61.63
6. Annual Maintenance Cost (Labor for replacements)	$0.00	$0.00	$10.48
7. Towels / Hand-Dry (square feet)	1.5278	0.6667	N/A
8. Towels / Case (square feet)	2444.44	2,800	N/A
9. Number of Hand-Dries / Case	1,600	4,200	N/A
10. No. Hand-Dries / Year (assume 3/employee/day)	5,877.33	5,877.33	5,877.33
11. Number of Cases Required / Year	3.67	1.40	N/A
12. Cost / Case of Paper Towels	$12.84	$19.00	N/A
13. Pounds / Case of Paper Towels	22	27	N/A
14. Pounds of Towel Waste Disposed / Year	80.81	37.78	N/A
15. Cost / Ton of Towels Disposed	41.50	41.50	N/A
16. Watts of Electricity Used	N/A	N/A	1,300
17. Dryer Cycle Time (seconds)	N/A	N/A	30
18.  Kilowatt-Hours of Electricity Used	N/A	N/A	63.67
19.  Cost per Kilowatt-Hour	N/A	N/A	$0.04*

COST COMPARISON OF RESTROOM HAND-DRYING OPTIONS
(Dispenser / Year)

COST CATEGORY	MULTI-FOLDED ROLL	ROLL PAPER	HOT  AIR
Dispenser Procurement Cost / Year	$0.00	$7.50	$20.95
Dispenser Installation Cost / Year	$0.00	$5.10	$6.16
Subtotal: Avg. Annual Dispenser Cost	$0.00	$12.60	$27.11
Avg. Annual Dispenser Maintenance Cost	$0.00	$0.00	$10.48
Avg. Annual Towel Procurement Cost	$47.17	$26.59	$0.00
Avg. Annual Cost of Electricity Use	$0.00	$0.00	$2.55*
Total of Avg. Annual Costs / Dispenser	$48.85	$39.97	$40.14

* Note: Electricity costs may vary significantly from state to state. 
Source: New York City, Department of Sanitation, 1998.
2/2002