Eight facilities, teams and programs will receive Postmaster General Sustainability Excellence Awards for their efforts to help USPS achieve its sustainability goals.
The honorees, announced this week, are:
- The Facilities team at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC, which installed waste receptacles in designated smoking areas to implement a process for free recycling of cigarette butts, which are used in the plastics industry, and composting of residual tobacco waste
- The headquarters Supply Management Sustainable Purchasing Program initiative, which upgraded the USPS Green Purchasing Program and the eBuy Plus online ordering system, resulting in a 5 percent increase in spending on environmentally preferable products
- Sierra Coastal District, which accepted an offer from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to install free LED lighting upgrades at 71 USPS facilities, a change that will save an estimated $400,000 a year in electricity costs when completed
- The Oklahoma City Processing and Distribution Center, which installed LED lighting, sensors, controls and other items to improve efficiency and cut utility costs
- The Power, MT, Post Office, which replaced its old, unsafe facility with a new, modular version made from converted shipping containers, a change that saved money, cut construction time and promoted sustainability
- The San Juan, PR, Processing and Distribution Center, which developed a new protocol for handling waste and recycling effectively and efficiently
- The USPS BlueEarth Secure Destruction mail service program, which has eliminated more than 264 million pieces of First-Class Mail return-to-sender letters and flats, reduced operating costs by more than $41 million, increased recycling of mail by 10,595 tons and avoided a potential 6,764 tons of greenhouse gases
- The Facility Services Category Management Center, which awarded electricity contracts to green power suppliers in 12 states, saving USPS an estimated $15.3 million a year
The Postal Service announced this year’s honorees April 21 to complement Earth Day’s 50th anniversary. The organization also highlighted progress toward its sustainability goals and celebrated the release of the Earth Day stamp, among other activities.
The Sustainability Blue page has more information about each honoree.