Electronic Billing vs. Paper Billing: Dematerialization, Energy Consumption and Environmental Impacts

In this study, by using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method, we had a comparison study of paper billing and payment (PBP) with electronic billing and payment (EBP) in the U.S. Through the use of life cycle approaches in the PBP system, we considered all inputs and outputs from production and operation servers (data center), bill distribution, and computer payments. In the PBP system, production of paper and envelops, production and print of bills, bill distribution (ingoing and outgoing from consumers), payment, and waste were considered. Finally, comparison results between PBP and EBP system in terms of environmental impacts are compared in two systems.