ReDO Takes Lead in Helping Postal Service Increase Donations of Undelivered Items

Contact:
Julie Rhodes, ReDO Executive Director, 317/631-5395
Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, 206/296-4481

Indianapolis, IN -- November 11, 2002 -- New U.S. Postal Service regulations that went into effect on October 31, 2002, will make it easier for the Postal Service to donate undelivered product samples and other undelivered items to food banks and homeless shelters. The new regulations should also increase the number of items that are donated.

The Reuse Development Organization, Inc. (ReDO) and the National Waste Prevention Coalition, along with the King County (Washington) Solid Waste Division, played a major role in developing these regulations with the Postal Service. Staff and board members with these organizations solicited and provided input from around the country, wrote the first draft of the proposed regulations, and worked directly with top Postal Service environmental officials to help move the regulations through a long process.

"These changes will help many Americans who need food and basic supplies," said Bill Ewing, executive director of the Maryland Food Bank in Baltimore, and co-chair of the ReDO board of directors. "We're very pleased the Postal Service has taken this step to streamline and improve these regulations, and we're glad that we could help them with this."

The Postal Service has estimated that U.S. post offices get stuck with up to 164,000 tons every year of undelivered product samples alone, not to mention other undelivered products and items. The new regulations will make it much easier for all undelivered items - food, toothpaste, shampoo, diapers and many other items - to be distributed to people who need them.

For example, in the past, undelivered, unopened toiletries and over-the-counter drugs were not supposed to be donated at all. The new regulations specify that these items should be donated to food banks, shelters or other non-profits.

ReDO and America's Second Harvest will work in partnership with their affiliates and the Postal Service in communities across the country to make sure these product donations get to the people that need it most. America's Second Harvest provides emergency food assistance to more than 23 million hungry Americans each year.

ReDO promotes the reuse of surplus and discarded materials by assisting reuse programs around the nation to meet environmental and social objectives. The National Waste Prevention Coalition is a national network advocating waste reduction and reuse. The Coalition is coordinated by King County Solid Waste Division in Seattle.

The new Postal Service regulations are available online in the "Domestic Mail" section of the Postal Bulletin.