Australia Post is transitioning to recycled and reusable plastics for parcel delivery as part of its responsible citizenship plan.

The first recycled plastic satchel will be launched before Christmas and they will be transitioned in during 2020.

The government-owned entity’s three year plan to be a responsible corporate citizen includes a raft of other initiatives looking forward to 2030 including workforce diversity, investment in renewables,  optimum customer experience, world-class safety metrics, gender equality and becoming a $10 billion company that “reinvests back into society”.

Group Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director Christine Holgate Holgate says Australia Post wants to put sustainability “front and centre of all it does” while also meeting increased customer expectations  for sustainable products and services.

“One of the things about sustainability and doing things like recycled packaging is for the people that work in your business,” she said. “They want to work for organisations where they’ve got strong values.”

Plunging profits

Australia Post revealed this month that profits had plunged 70 per cent, raising the prospect of closures and sparking a call by post office operators for governments to come to their aid.

Falling letter volumes and a lack of price increases in stamps led to a 9 per cent drop in letter revenues to $2.2 billion from $2.43 billion, Australia Post announced last week.

Australia Post’s before tax profit for 2018-2019 was $41 million, down 67 per cent from $126 million, with results dragged down by “by significant letter losses”.

Australia Post provides services through a network of 4,000 post offices  and has a 35,000 strong workforce. It delivers to more than 11.9 million delivery points across Australia and more than 190 countries across the world.

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