Padded envelopes among new products unveiled by US Postal Service

The US Postal Service has unveiled a new range of products for the New Year which includes 12.5 x 9.5 inch padded envelopes.

Also announced was a legal-size flat rate envelope measuring 15 by 9.5 inches, and four other new Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes, all of which will retail for $4.95.

The flat rate gift envelope is designed to protect gift cards from damage or loss caused by the Postal Service’s automated mail sorting machines. Gift cards have grown more popular in the US in recent years, and rates of damage to posted gift cards have also risen. With this new standard sized specialist gift card envelope, the Postal Service hopes to curb this problem.

In the US, Priority Mail travels in a separate mail stream from standard First Class mail, and is normally delivered anywhere in the country in 2-3 days.

Another new introduction is the extension of the Hold for Pickup from just Express Mail to also cover Priority Mail and First-Class Mail commercial packages. Parcels designated as Hold for Pickup are shipped directly to a local Post Office rather than to the recipient’s home address. The package can then picked up at any time during office hours at the recipient’s convenience.

Argos and Homebase to use bubble wrap bags to deliver sofas

In an attempt to reduce the amount of packaging they use, Argos and Homebase plan to deliver sofas and other large items in reusable bubble wrap bags.

Home Retail Group, which owns both companies, explained that sofas are typically shipped with roughly 3kg of packaging materials, and that every year the UK throws away approximately 15,000 tonnes of furniture packaging waste every year.

The new bags are folded bubble wrap envelopes with a non-woven PP inner lining and a LDPE outer cover. They come in four different sizes, and will be inspected and cleaned after each use.

The bags are manufactured in the Far East by Atlas Bubble, and meet all the criteria needed for furniture protection, reuse and handling, and are completely recyclable down existing plastics recycling streams.

Mike Robey, retail programme manager with the company who helped to develop the new bags, explained: “Our experience of reusable packaging indicates the benefits are three-fold: environmental, consumer convenience and cost.”

The move to the new bag comes less than six months after the Home Retail Group became one of the founding signatories of the Home Improvement Sector Commitment to look at the problem of waste in this industry.