Should Companies Recycle Bill Inserts and Return Envelopes?

If you get paper bills in the mail then you will probably also get a return envelope along with the bill so that when you pay the bill you can just put your payment in that envelope and send it back to the company. But before you lick that envelope you may want to think of a few things.

The envelope may look new but actually may be recycled. Most of the people who get bills with the envelopes in will pay that bill in person. They will also bring back the inside envelope so that the company can reuse it. Maybe these customers think that it will help the company save money by recycling these. True the now-used envelope does look new and appears to be virgin, but it's been out of the company's sight for over a month and they have no idea what kind of environment it has been in. So should the inside envelope be recycled?

Sometimes , some of the returns will get recycled and sent back out in the mailing of the next batch of bills. But some customer service agents or associates will dispose of them before they can be sent back out. For health reasons some don't feel that they should be going back out in the mailings because most people will lick the envelope closed and these are not considered new stock anymore.

Since you are not aware if the inside return envelope is not new or is a recycled one you may want to find a different way to seal that instead of licking it shut.

There are many things that companies can recycle and send out in their bill inserts. It costs the companies a lot of money to print things and when people bring items back in there are many items that will be sent back out with the next mailings. You never can be sure if the inserts that you are receiving is new stock or recycled stock.

The main issue that I have with recycling items is I think most customers are assuming that the mailings are from new stock and has never been used. I want to know that if I lick an envelope closed that it has been straight from the printer and not in a stranger's house for a month or so.

It gives us something to think about when we get our next bill in the mail, is it new or recycled from a previous mailing.