Hand dryers are an essential part of good hygiene in offices, schools, and restaurants, and can also be a major contributor to the overall amount of energy used in a building. Even in a small office, a hand dryer may be used more than one hundred times each day, and every time it is used, it will consume electricity and contribute to your overall carbon footprint.

Do Hand Dryers Have a Higher Carbon Footprint than Paper Towels

Paper towels do not require any electricity for use, but their carbon footprint is much higher than you would expect. The production, transportation and disposal of paper towels consumes vast amounts of energy. Paper towels are also manufactured from wood pulp, and even if it is generated from sustainably managed forests, it takes seventeen trees to make each tonne of paper towels, and annually more than 254 million tonnes of used paper towels are sent to land fill. It is calculated that for every one hundred daily paper towel uses, 624KG of CO2 emissions will be generated. 

By comparison, the ultra-efficient Mitsubishi Electric Wave u02 generates just 35 KG of CO2!