Priority mail goes 'green'

The blue and white packages of the U.S. Postal Service are getting 'greener' according to an article in Federal Times.

Postal Service spokeswoman Joanne Veto is quoted by reporter Daniel Friedman as saying all of USPS Priority and Express Mail packages are now made with 100 percent recyclable paper. About 500 million such packages worth $6 billion are used each year.

"Though the agency already uses recycled paper for some packages, the move to 100 percent represents a big switch.

"In the works for about two years, the change necessitated rewriting contracts with about 200 suppliers to require them to alter the composition of the paper they provide."

According to the report, the new packages include 60 separate material components and 1,400 individual ingredients. The switch, however, is “cost neutral” to both vendors and the agency.

Postmaster General John Potter and other agency officials will discuss the environmental benefits of the switch at a May 30 news conference and luncheon.