CBSD partnered with the UTS Science Phytolab and smart receipt company Slyp, to investigate the social, ecological and economic impacts of an average paper receipt. The research found a digital receipt had a far smaller environmental impact than a paper receipt.
Digital receipt systems offer the potential for low-carbon alternatives, especially if the providers and users switch to renewable energy sources. Digital technologies provide the potential for greening consumption too, as their services become more integrated, and data management could reveal the ecological footprint of consumers purchasing decisions and thereby help people make more ecologically sound buying decisions.
A world-first scientific lab experiment found paper receipts had a toxic impact on local ecologies. Synthesis of prior research found substances in some thermal paper receipts affected human endocrine systems. These ecological and human health impacts are challenging to quantify as there is a lack of regulation in the industry such that products do not contain a listing of their contents. More alarmingly, this lack of information means that people would not be aware of these impacts, nor have relevant information to select paper receipt products more responsibly.
UTS Research Team:
Core (in alphabetical order): Dr Md Maruf Hossan Chowdhury, Associate Professor Melissa Edwards, Anwara Happy, Dr Megan Murray, Dr Robert Perey, Shahriar Sajib
Advisory: Professor Renu Agarwal, Associate Professor Sanjoy Paul, Dr Moira Scerri
Acknowledgments – Valued ongoing partnership with Slyp, support from the Innovation Connections Funding scheme, and the valuable contribution of research participants who provided interviews and shared information and reports.