Bpost announces end of paper 'delivery not possible' notes

From September 2024, Belgium’s postal operator Bpost will no longer leave strips of paper in a letterbox to say they could not deliver a parcel or registered letter.

The news followed a successful pilot scheme where instead of just dropping a note in the box, if a postal worker could not fulfil a delivery mission, Bpost would alert the client via an email or message on a Bpost app asking the client to pick up a letter or parcel in the next two weeks.

Bpost already has access to residents’ email addresses when they place an online order. If this is not the case, a paper note will still be dropped in the box for registered or personal mail deliveries or if an address on a parcel has not been written correctly.

For Bpost chief executive Jos Donvil, the message is clear: “Digitalisation allows a more than obvious gain in terms of sustainability. The mass of paper used can be replaced by electronic notification. The message remains the same.

“Email addresses of customers who order online are already known in any case and they are already informed of their order’s status by email or via the app. Sending ‘we could not deliver your letter/parcel’ notices to their mailbox is simply a logical next step.”

Bpost said that this new measure – which will be implemented in phases, region by region throughout the country until September – will enable the company to cut paper consumption by a massive 97%.

It added that all staff would receive rigorous training with the new procedure to help in this transition period.