Nine facilities, teams, programs and individuals will receive Postmaster General Sustainability Excellence Awards for their efforts to help USPS achieve its sustainability goals.
The honorees, announced last week, are:
• eDispose, a collaboration that involves several USPS teams that worked together to develop an online portal that explains how to handle electronic waste
• Erie, PA, Processing and Distribution Center, which increased the amount of scrap metal recycled during the previous fiscal year by more than 19 tons, helping to reduce harmful materials in waste streams and greenhouse gas emissions
• Evansville, IN, Vehicle Maintenance Facility, which embraced recycling, reduced water usage and switched to LED lighting, thereby cutting costs for the Postal Service
• Knoxville, TN, Vehicle Maintenance Facility, which reduced energy usage by replacing old bulbs containing mercury with LED bulbs and new lighting fixtures that helped cut energy usage and environmental waste
• Memphis, TN, Processing Networks Transportation, an office that launched two projects: one initiative that converted five diesel fuel vehicles to compressed natural gas and another program that tested autonomous trucking technology and helped USPS explore new ways to improve safety, reduce emissions and cut costs
• USPS Facilities team, which finalized a project to install 64,500 solar panels on roofs and parking canopies at several Postal Service locations — an initiative that will save millions of dollars in energy costs while cutting nearly 22,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually
• USPS Maintenance team, which detected and repaired more than 1,500 compressed air leaks at 109 sites, saving the Postal Service more than $1.8 million and reducing the need for larger, more expensive air compressor systems
• Washington, DC, Network Distribution Center, which will save $18.8 million during the next five years by using hydrogen fuel cell technology instead of lead acid batteries previously used in a fleet of 92 powered industrial vehicles
• Denver Facilities Environmental Specialist Anne Wolf, who was recognized for her work on a range of stormwater retention and treatment, hazardous materials spills and heating oil tank replacement issues
The Sustainability Blue page has more information about each honoree.