Postage Stamps/Envelope Products Program, 2000 Recycling Symposium Proceedings

Charles Delaney--Hi, I’m Chuck Delaney from the United States Postal Service. I have been with the Postal Service for the past 25 years and have worked in a number of positions. My current title is Accountable Paper Manufacturing Specialist, which is the Postal service’s fancy way of saying that I am the program manager for stamp production activities. When I first came to Stamp Acquisition in March of 1996, my prime experience in the Postal Service centered on the commercial printing and mailing industries. I had worked with such companies as ADVO, Inc, Quadraphics, and RR Donnelly. While in that capacity I was responsible for working with the mailing industry to assist them in meeting postal mailabiltiy requirements. As such, I became very familiar with the printing, packaging, and shipping areas that has served me well in my current position. The most obvious part of my duties is to establish the production activities associated with the United States Stamp Program. As such I have responsibility for determining yearly volume forecast, quality and production requirements, and security and accountability compliance. In doing this the public interest most always be kept at the forefront of any production initiatives that we pursue. The mission of the U.S. Stamp Program is threefold. (SLIDE 1) First and foremost we must provide the American people with the finest quality and best value-mail use stamps today and in the future. Secondly, we need to continue to recognize and celebrate the rich heritage of our nation through a comprehensive commemorative stamp program. Last, we need to encourage customers to purchase and save a wide variety of attractive and collectible stamps and stamp products. In mentioning the three guidelines above, it provides me with the opportunity to discuss the revolutionary emergence of self-adhesive stamps over the past 8 years. (SLIDE 2) As you can see from the chart, not very long ago, in fact no more than 8 years ago, Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive (PSA) stamps were for all practical purposes, non-existent. Since 1994 however, the percentage has climbed to the point where we now see the traditional gum or water activated stamps on the endangered species list. Why this sudden change in composition for the program? In a phrase, customer demands. If the stamp program were predicated on only the last two points in the first slide, there would be no need for self-adhesive stamps. However, the principal driving force in the stamp program is providing the American public with the finest quality and best value mail-use stamps. Our customers to send their bills, greeting cards and other correspondence throughout the nation and the world will utilize approximately 30 billion of the 37 billion stamps we will produce this year. It is these same people who have demanded that the stamps we provide be self-adhesive. While we initially provided the self-adhesive stamps at the principal First-Class rate of postage (33-cents), the customer demand for self-adhesive stamps for other secondary denominations was formidable. Today we offer self-adhesive stamps not only at the prime 33-cent rate but also in denominations of 1-cent, 20-cents, 22-cents, 55-cents, 77-cents, $1.00. PSAs are also offered for all the international denominations as well as for Priority Mail ($3.20) and Express Mail ($11.75), and non-denominated commercial use stamps (SLIDE 3). This is quite a turnaround from our first venture into self-adhesive stamps (SLIDE 4), the Dove Weather Vane atop Mount Vernon. While the stamp and technology used to manufacture the stamp was inadequate to provide the quality and archivability required for all stamp products, there was also no public outcry for correcting the deficiencies and introducing more self-adhesive stamp products. This began to change, and in 1989 we again introduced a self-adhesive stamp into the marketplace (SLIDE 5) the 25-cent Eagl ??? ?????? ?????? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ???????? ?????????? ???? ??????