USPS Post Office Box Lobby Recycling program

Post Office Box Lobby Recycling program
Founded October 28, 2008
Number of locations
 over 8,064
(as of April 2010)[1][2]
Services Paper recycling
A pile of junk mail

The Post Office Box Lobby Recycling program is a project of the United States Postal Service (USPS) that was created on October 28, 2008, for consumers to recycle paper items, using recycling bins placed in the customer lobbies of post office buildings.[3][4] Some of the goals of the program are to reduce the amount of paper waste going to landfills, which helps to reduce the consumption of fiber from trees used for paper production and greenhouse gas emissions associated with waste disposal.[4][5] USPS receives revenue from selling the material, and no tax dollars are used to fund the project.[1] USPS was reported as having recycled over 200,000 tons of waste in 2009, including paper, plastics and other waste.[1][2]

Participation

Some U.S. post offices do not participate in the program, and sometimes recycle paper items independently of the program, in bins in their employee work areas.[6] Some reasons for non-participation include building space constraints and limited personnel at some U.S. post offices.[6] At some post offices, mail received that is undeliverable is recycled.[6] Some U.S. post offices (as of 2010) do not recycle whatsoever.[6]

Timeline

In April 2010, it was reported that the number of post offices participating in the program had increased to 8,064.[1][2]

In March 2009, the total number of bins was increased by 1,844, to a total of nearly 5,900 recycling bins.[3][4][7][8][9]

Security

The program uses secure, locked bins that have a narrow slot opening to maintain privacy[3][4] and thwart the potential of discarded mail being tampered with. If someone accidentally drops an item into the slot, they cannot reach in to retrieve it; instead, they must contact a postal worker for access.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Koch, Wendy (March 1, 2010). "Postal Service: Stop! We'll help you recycle that mail". USA Today. Retrieved May 1, 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 "Recycling in post offices increases". American Recycler (newspaper). April 2010. Retrieved May 1, 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  3. 1 2 3 Herron, Joyce (Acting Postmaster) (March 16, 2009). "Letter: Post office starts recycling program". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved May 1, 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  4. 1 2 3 4 "'Read, Respond, Recycle' Mail" (PDF). Release No. 09-026. United States Postal Service. March 12, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2012. Noted: "program launched here today builds on the tremendous success of similar programs that have been ongoing".
  5. ↑ Johnson, Jim (February 16, 2010). "USPS expands recycling program to 2,500 additional sites". Waste & Recycling News. Retrieved May 1, 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  6. 1 2 3 4 Bingaman, Brian (January 22, 2010). "Not all post offices on board with USPS recycling program". Montgomery News. Retrieved May 1, 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  7. ↑ "USPS Brings Paper Recycling to Post Office Lobbies". Recycling Today Magazine. March 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2012. (Functional article link: "USPS Brings Paper Recycling to Post Office Lobbies"
  8. ↑ "Mail Call: Post offices offer mail-recycling program". DelawareOnline.com. March 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
  9. ↑ The bins are separate receptacles as locked containers.

Further reading

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