We design our products to have a minimal environmental impact at every stage from manufacturing and distribution to eventual return and recovery. We provide innovative mailstream solutions to help our customers reduce their environmental impact as well.

Design for Environmental Quality
Environmental considerations are incorporated as early as possible in the product design process under our Design for Environmental Quality (DfEQ) program, established in 1991. Our goal is to minimize environmental impacts at each stage of the life cycle, from material input to energy consumption in manufacturing and use to ease of disassembly and recycling.

Our latest line of inserters consumes 10 to 14 percent less energy per cycle than previous models. In 1996, we approached the EPA to create a new category of Imaging Equipment in its Energy Star program. Since then we have offered a range of Energy Star-rated mailing systems. The EPA raised the standards in 2009, and we are now incorporating these new requirements into future product designs.

DfEQ has also guided us in complying with other U.S. and international regulations, and in removing hazardous substances such as mercury, chlorinated solvents and ozone-depleting substances from our products. Under DfEQ, electrical components must comply with the European Union’s Directives on the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and the Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment (WEEE). And in 2008, we communicated with suppliers and customers to achieve compliance with the Registration, Evaluation & Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) Directive.

Product Return and Recovery
Pitney Bowes has a long legacy of product remanufacturing and recycling. Over 95 percent of all components of our mailing equipment are designed to be recyclable, and we recover nearly all of our postal meters and approximately 85% of mailing products. In 2008, we processed nearly 8 million pounds of product including copper, aluminum, steel, plastic, cardboard and paper through our return programs. Returned equipment that cannot be reused is sent to approved recycling partners for resource recovery.

Product Environmental Profiles
To help customers understand the environmental impact of our mailstream optimization solutions, we have developed a standardized product environmental profile and are working to assess new and existing products to this standard. Each product’s profile offers information in six areas: energy efficiency, process efficiency, material optimization, durability, recyclability, and use of sustainable manufacturing and supply chain practices.  

Green product and service solutions
Our ecowisesm service, introduced in 2008, helps customers quantify the carbon footprint of their mailstream operations, identify and implement opportunities to reduce it, and communicate their success. Through the ecowisesm process, customers can:
  • Eliminate undeliverable mail through real-time data quality and postal presorting software
  • Reduce, reuse, recycle through recycled papers, ink and toner cartridge recycling and software to reduce hard copy creation and storage
  • Consolidate mailings by unifying data on household members, improving list management and focusing on the highest-potential prospects
  • Achieve more with transactional mail, taking advantage of the high readership of transactional documents by integrating customized promotional messages and eliminating inserts
  • Save on transportation through more efficient routing and selection of carriers.


Case study: ecowise
Pitney Bowes' ecowisesm service helps customers understand and reduce the carbon footprint of their mailstream activities. The analysis is completed using our proprietary ecowisesm Carbon Calculator. The calculator breaks down the life cycle of a single mail piece into 18 stages and calculates the CO2 emissions associated with each stage of the mail application.

Case study: Eliminating undeliverable mail
The U.S. Postal Service returns five billion mail pieces as undeliverable each year. According to a General Accounting Office report, undelivered-as-addressed mail cost the USPS more than $1.8 billion in 2004. Pitney Bowes' VeriMove and other mailing efficiency solutions reliably eliminate the vast majority of misdirected mail, cutting down on wasted paper, energy, labor and postage costs. All told, our change-of-address products process approximately 1.8 billion address records per year and make approximately 72 million corrections, eliminating the need for the USPS to return, correct or dispose of improperly addressed mail.