NEWSLETTER by Alessia Falsarone. The author acknowledges the team at The University of Chicago Circular Economy and Sustainable Business Management Program and all participants of the innovation knowledge hub for their insights and collaboration.
Physical mail remains a big part of daily life, even as the world goes digital. In the UK, for instance, the Royal Mail has found that almost 8 billion letters and 1.5 billion parcels are sent each financial year. In the US, the mailing industry has a workforce similar in size to the airline or oil and gas industries and adds over 5% to the national GDP.
When looking at how to reduce the environmental impact of traditional mail, it’s natural to assume that transportation plays a key role and is a major contributor to the industry’s carbon emissions.
But is this really true?
Let’s examine the path to net zero that the world’s largest national postal services have begun and see if the circular economy is a core part of their environmental and commercial strategy.
| The Science of Impact
In the spring of 2023, the Royal Mail – the provider of the universal postal service in the UK, released the first market study on the lifecycle assessment of commercial mail through its marketing subsidiary, Marketreach, in collaboration with WSP. The focus was to address the environmental impact of mail producing a full carbon Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). to provide data insights into the carbon impact of commercial letters in the UK. The data insights into the carbon impact of commercial letters would then be used to communicate the impact customers and stakeholders and help reduce carbon emissions in line with the group’s 2040 net zero ambition.
To identify the life stages of commercial mail, the team pinpointed the elements where Royal Mail had direct control or can influence emission-reducing decisions. As a result, a few elements were left out of the study, such as:
〉Transportation to end-of-life processing
〉Stamp use
〉Postal sorting of mail for distribution (since the focus was only on bulk mail products)
〉Envelope printing
The study’s findings were quite insightful. Materials, delivery, and ink remain top hotspots in the analysis. However, as products get heavier, emissions from raw materials, design, ink, and end-of-life management become more significant compared to the product’s overall lifecycle emissions. As a result, delivery emissions make up a smaller portion of the total.
In summary, product size and weight directly correlate with associated carbon emissions. Specifically:
〉For smaller products (<30g), printing and delivery greatly impact total carbon emissions.
〉For larger products (>60g), the materials and ink used have a much greater impact than printing or delivery.
A note on ‘delivery’:
Delivery to the Royal Mail distribution centers is the carbon hotspot, making up 53% of total delivery emissions. As the UK and Royal Mail move towards net zero, delivery emissions will likely decrease. Royal Mail plans to reduce letter and parcel emissions through their Net Zero 2040 ‘Steps to Zero’ strategy. This focuses on final mile electrification, optimizing local and national distribution, switching from planes to trains, and improving building energy efficiency. This will have a more significant impact on the carbon emissions of smaller products (<30g).
| Circularity Roadmaps Explained
For the first time, Royal Mail teams conducted an in-depth examination of every element, from forest sourcing to end-of-life, including processing, design, production, and delivery stages. A key takeaway from the LCA was that mail can directly contribute to a circular economy by regenerating, reinventing, reducing, reusing, and recycling. This can be part of effective customer outreach using commercial mail.
Equipped with an interactive digital tool, commercial mail users can determine the carbon impact of the most widely used commercial mail formats across their value chain. The tool provides data on the carbon footprint at each stage of the mail lifecycle.
Consider this direct example from the study:
〉The overall carbon impact for one standard postcard is 43.61 gCO2e. This is less than an email with a large attachment, which could have a carbon footprint of 50 gCO2e according to Climate Care, and also less than the impact of an orange.
〉The overall impact of an A4 or C5 Large Catalogue is 445.29 gCO2e. This is only slightly more than the carbon impact of one 15g cup of coffee.
| Investing in the Circular Economy
Physical mail remains big business in the US as well. The United States Postal Service is the core of the country’s US$1.6 trillion mailing industry, employing over 7.3 million people according to the EMA (Envelope Manufacturers Association). If it were a private company, the Postal Service would have ranked 47th on last year’s Fortune 500 list, while in the Global Fortune 500 list, it has already reached 151st in 2022.
In early February 2024, after a 3-year strategic revamp, the USPS announced a new set of sustainability targets as part of its 10-year plan to cut US$5 billion in operating costs. The plan includes reducing transportation by consolidating facilities, regionalizing mail, and decreasing air travel. It has also set 2030 emissions targets: 40% cuts in fuel and electricity emissions, and a 20% reduction in overall value chain emissions. To achieve this, it plans to shift freight from air to ground transport, optimize delivery routes, and purchase lower-emission vehicles. Circular economy goals have also been developed to include diverting 75% of waste from landfills, increasing packaging recycled content to 74%, making 88% of packages recyclable, and using 10% renewable energy.
What do Scope 3 emissions entail for a complex organization such as the USPS?
Scope 3 emissions include contract transportation, employee business travel, commuting, contracted waste disposal and wastewater treatment, fully serviced leased buildings, and electricity transmission and distribution losses. Notably, the Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operations and relies on postage, product, and service sales for funding.
The example of capital investment from the USPS is only one example as the Universal Postal Union(UPU), the UN agency coordinating postal policies, actively promotes circularity in the postal sector to meet sustainability and climate goals.
Postal operators around the world are already investing in the circular economy. In 2020, Singapore Post launched an upcycling initiative to repurpose old blue uniforms. Close to 33,000 old uniforms (12 tons) were replaced in 2020 as part of SingPost’s redesign. The uniforms were used in the Re:Post initiative to create lifestyle products like water-repellent tote bags, tissue holders, cushion covers, and picnic mats.
| You don’t want to miss this month
From Brussels to Paris, the month of May offers new opportunities to connect with fellow circularity practitioners, and stir our world towards a more sustainable economic transition.
Discover, grow and leave your mark!
May 16th: Raw Materials Summit (Brussels, Belgium). Organized by EIT RawMaterials, the world’s largest consortium in the raw materials sector, the summit is a key platform for discussions on securing a reliable supply of raw materials for a carbon-neutral economy in the EU and beyond.
May 17th: The Benefits of Public Buyers’ Collaboration (virtual). The registration link is accessible here. The final BRINC Network training session for public authorities will focus on leveraging public procurement to achieve green, resilient, and inclusive development. To overcome legal barriers and a lack of market readiness, regional and municipal cooperation is key for effective knowledge sharing throughout the procurement process. Legal expert Malin Håkansson from Swedish law firm Sigeman & Co will share insights on collaborative procurement. Successful examples in the context of the CircularPSP Project will also be highlighted.
May 22nd – 23rd: OECD Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains (Paris, France). The 17th edition of the Forum will focus on longstanding and emerging priorities in creating responsible mineral supply chains. It will cover overlooked conflict risks, the role of development minerals, regional sessions on gold supply chains, policy cohesion in a changing regulatory landscape, and the importance of responsible business conduct in government-to-government agreements on transition minerals.
(*) The BRINC (Brokering Cross-Border Innovation Through Clusters) project is co-funded by the European Union’s COSME program (Competitiveness of SMEs).
Off to another impactful week!
| All opinions expressed are those of the author and/or quoted sources. investESG.eu is an independent and neutral platform dedicated to generating debate around ESG investing topics.
