Our footprint

While the Open Government Product product report cards are great for demonstrating transparency and accountability, we are trying to prototype a more relatable and informal presentation of our yearly achievements behind our products.

Solution

Research & learnings

• How much paper waste does Singapore produce?

  • According to NEA, 1,251 tonnes of paper/cardboard were generated in Singapore, but only 31% was recycled.

• How much paper does a tree produce?

  • Each mature tree can be harvested for 8000 sheets of paper.

  • A fast-growing hardwood can be harvested for pulp and paper production at ages as young as 4 to 6 years, and are the most ideal age for papermaking. Some species of trees have to grow at least 10 years.

• How much water is required per sheet of paper?

  • Modern paper mills require approximately 50ml of water for each sheet of paper.

• How this translates to sustainability on FormSG?

  • In 2024, FormSG received about 26M form responses across 160+ agencies.

  • If we assume 1 submission = 1 paper, it would require:

    • 3000 trees

    • 1300K litres of water (approximately 230 football fields)

• We also looked at the top agencies in FormSG who are collecting the most submissions in 2024

  • Ministry of Defence: 4M

  • Ministry of Education: 3.4M

  • Ministry of Manpower: 2M

Next steps

• Polish and send it to FormSG users!

• Allow filtering to view stats by agencies.

• Include other OGP products like Armoury.

• Include other fun facts.

• Get agencies to be involved!

Team members

• Sebastian Wong

• Joyce Foo

• Kenneth Chang

Contact us

See a paper form in a government agency? Let us know at https://go.gov.sg/paperlessforms.