Hessian state parliament saves millions: digitization revolutionizes paper consumption!

The Hessian state parliament made significant progress in reducing paper and printing costs in 2024. With the digitization of printed matter, the institution was able to save 2.3 million leaves of paper, which led to a total consumption of only 200,000 printed leaves this year. In the previous year, the annual consumption was around 2.5 million leaves, which makes the savings through digitization particularly remarkable, such as hessenschau reported.

The printed matter contain important parliamentary inquiries, draft laws and applications. These are now distributed exclusively on plenary days and for the meetings of the Council of Elder. Parliamentary Physician Astrid Wallmann (CDU) emphasized the savings achieved and the associated efficiency and sustainability of digitization. Despite these steps, however, several hundred fax devices are still in operation within the Hessian state administration, including 176 in the Interior Ministry and 119 in the Ministry of Justice, which results in a total of 425 fax equipment. In recent years, several thousand fax devices have been shut down, which also contributed to saving paper.

Detailed statistics on parliamentary events

More current figures prove the active work of the Hessian state parliament. In 2024, a total of 29 plenary sessions with a total duration of 182.57 hours took place. The longest session of the year occurred on December 12, 2024 and lasted 10 hours and 45 minutes. The committees met for 192 meetings that took 215 hours. During this legislative period, 21 laws were passed, 4 drafts rejected and 1 draft law withdrawn. There are currently 12 laws on discussion that are still advised in second or third reading.

By December 19, 733 small and 21 big inquiries were made to the state government. In the parliamentary work, 1,058 new petitions came, 815 of which were finally processed. Particularly noteworthy are two petitions supported by more than 10,000 citizens: "Protects the Hessian citizens' request" with 14,814 signatures and "treatment of domestic violence in schools" with 30,450 supporters. In addition, 10,250 people took part in the plenary sessions in 350 groups, while 9,700 people took part in tours through the plenary building and historical rooms. Over 450 young people were involved in schedule, almost 400 people took part in seminars such as "Women in the Landtag". For the open house days at the end of September, more than 10,000 interested parties moved to the Hessian state parliament, as well as Fulda info reported.