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 mail customers to
recycle paper items, using
recycling bins placed in the customer lobbies of
post office buildings.
Some of the goals of the program are to reduce the amount of paper waste going to
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
s, which helps to reduce the consumption of fiber from trees used for paper production and
greenhouse gas emissions associated with waste disposal.
USPS receives revenue from selling the material, and no tax dollars are used to fund the project.
USPS was reported as having recycled over of waste in 2009, including paper, plastics and other waste.
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.
Some reasons for non-participation are building space constraints and limited personnel at some U.S. post offices.
At some post offices, mail received that is undeliverable is recycled.
, some U.S. post offices did not participate in the program.
Timeline
In March 2009, the total number of bins was increased by 1,844, to a total of nearly 5,900 recycling bins.
[ ]
In April 2010, it was reported that the number of post offices participating in the program had increased to 8,064.
Security
The program uses -capacity plastic bins, which USPS refers to as "Slim Jims".
The bins have lockable lids and have a narrow insertion slot to maintain customer privacy and limit the potential of discarded mail being stolen for the harvesting of
personal information.
See also
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Environmental issues in the United States
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Paper recycling
The recycling of paper is the process by which waste paper is turned into new paper products. It has a number of important benefits: It saves waste paper from occupying homes of people and producing methane as it breaks down. Because paper fi ...
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Recycling in the United States
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Waste minimisation
References
Further reading
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External links
* (February 12, 2010.
"Recycling in Post Offices expanding."United States Postal Service
Postal Bulletin 22334. United States Postal Service.
United States Postal Service.
{{United States Postal Service
Recycling in the United States
United States Postal Service