Question: I have a post office box at a local post office.  I notice trash cans everywhere but haven’t seen a recycle bin in case someone wants to recycle junk mail they receive in their post office box.  Does the post office have any plans to add a recycle bin in their stations for recycling unwanted mail?

Answer: Your answer comes from Susan W. Wright, Customer Relations Coordinator, United States Postal Service:

I contacted Environmental Specialist Chet Marsh to inquire about recycling containers in our Postal lobbies. According to Mr. Marsh, the Postal Service Inspection Service and the Office of the Inspector General have not given their permission for us to recycle customer’s mail from the Post Office boxes.  Specifically, the disposal First Class mail by Postal employees is not permitted, except under strict guidelines.  However, the Postal Service is currently in the process of seeking approval for this particular initiative.

It may interest you to know the extent of our efforts to recycle, not only in Lexington, but throughout the country.  In addition to recycling undeliverable bulk business mail (Standard Rate), we also recycle the oil and tires from our large fleet of vehicles – and coming soon; a new program in which we will recycle plastic material.

 Linda Niemi