LCI Model of Mail

We designed and constructed the first-ever comprehensive life cycle inventory model for analysis of the U.S. mail system.  This peer-reviewed model addressed waste generation, pollutant emissions, and energy consumption, and allowed comparative analysis across mail products, identification of the most environmentally intensive life-cycle stages, and quantification of the energy consumed, by type, for each product and stage, including the “environmental footprint” of producing the fuels consumed.  The U.S. Postal Service used this model to identify priorities for source reduction initiatives, and serve as the basis for attributing greenhouse gas emissions to individual postal products.