How many staples are thrown away per year in the United States?  In
the world?  Please cite a print reference if possible.

Is this a Microsoft interview question?

Staples ?

As in staple diet.

Possibly about three, one would be maize

185,841,249,675 + or - 50

D*mn...Bryan's post made me lose count.

Staples: metal pieces out of a stapler used to bind papers.

It's not a Microsoft interview question.  My small business sells
stapler replacements, and I was curious as to the "green" angle on it.

Thanks!

I have a wonderful device that I inherited.

It is something like a pair of pliers that punches out a 'tongue' of
paper and threads it through a 'slot' - an all paper staple.

I guess it is 1920's or earlier.  Very 'green'. Well actually it is rather rusty.

In my experience staple machines work reliably right up to the last staple.

The only waste is when a new strip breaks up and I can't be bothered
fiddling around.

You could probably re-phrase this question "how many staple are bought
each year in the US?" because the number of stapled documents being
kept is probably fairly steady.

It's still possible to buy non-staple paper fastening devices like
what frde-ga described (and probably like what kame-ga sells). For
example:

http://www.amazon.com/Staple-Free-Stapler-Chrome/dp/B0006VMK9M/sr=1-1/qid=1163225005/ref=sr_1_1/103-8549772-2735845?ie=UTF8&s=office-products