Pitney Bowes Reaches Reuse Milestone
Pitney Bowes Inc. announced on Feb. 9 that it recovered nearly 1.1 million pounds of U.S. equipment and components for reuse, recycling, or remanufacture in 2008.
Pitney Bowes customers that purchase or lease postal meters or mailing machines can return these products to established distribution centers throughout the United States. All returned products are sent to the Pitney Bowes remanufacturing plant for inspection, harvesting, and remanufacture of equipment parts. Any parts or finished products that cannot be remanufactured are sent to a partnering recycling facility.
Today, 95 percent of the company's mailing equipment parts are recyclable. This environmental benefit is achieved through the organization's environmental standards for suppliers and in the product design process. Pitney Bowes uses the Design for Environmental Quality standard in the design and assembly of its products.
"Our product take-back program gives customers the option to do something good for the environment while helping them avoid the cost of waste disposal," said Paul Robbertz, vice president, Environment, Health and Safety. "It also helps Pitney Bowes redirect its waste to serve as raw materials, saving the energy used to create those materials and providing financial benefits to the company."
Pitney Bowes is a participant in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's voluntary WasteWise program, which aims to help companies reduce municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes from operations. In 2007, Pitney Bowes was inducted into the WasteWise Hall of Fame for its efforts in waste reduction since 1997, which totaled over 55,000 tons of materials including white paper, cardboard, wooden pallets, and equipment recovered through the product take-back program.