Aug. 9, 2012
Tension Corporation, a leading envelope manufacturer, announced that it has launched full-scale production of Sprint’s new two-way billing ecoEnvelope®. The roll-out represents the largest execution of its kind in statement mailing.
Tension has long been a pioneer in the design and manufacturing of two-way envelopes, introducing its first reusable product more than fifty years ago. “Throughout our long history, Tension has established a solid record of product innovations and solutions that work throughout the mailing process and benefit the environment by conserving resources,” says Bill Berkley, Tension Corporation President and CEO.
The two-way patent-pending ecoEnvelope® allows Sprint wireless customers to receive and pay their bill using the same envelope. Throughout the implementation process, Tension worked closely with Sprint and ecoEnvelopes™.
“Tension demonstrated its leadership and manufacturing expertise through their flexibility in adapting their manufacturing operations and with their innovative artwork design approach,” says Keanon Swan, Manager, Vendor Management & Postal Strategy at Sprint.
Tension also maintained a close relationship with DST Output, working alongside the customer communications provider to ensure the envelopes preserved their integrity throughout the high-speed insertion and automated mail sorting process.
“Throughout the entire testing and implementation process, our commitment to upholding the Sprint customer experience and the integrity of the billing and remit process helped drive a successful implementation,” says Berkley.
Sprint has received numerous accolades for its position on sustainability, including a #3 ranking on Newsweek’s 2011 Green Rankings, which honored Sprint as one of the nation’s greenest companies and gave it the highest ranking of any telecommunications company.
“Our reusable ecoEnvelope is just one example of Sprint’s overall commitment to environmental sustainability, using paper responsibly and working with collaborative and engaged suppliers,” says Alan Anglyn, Sprint’s Director, Care & Billing Services’ Business Management. “As part of our continuous improvement process, Tension worked quickly to incorporate customer and partner feedback through multiple testing cycles and ultimately, into production,” continued Anglyn.
Sprint estimates the new envelope format will save approximately $500,000 in operational costs in just over a year and the equivalent* of:
- 447 tons of paper
- 9,931,834 gallons of water, or 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools
- 859,047 pounds of solid waste, or 31 loaded garbage trucks
- 2,692,185 pounds of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent), or 244 cars off the road/year
*Estimates derived using the Environmental Paper Network Paper Calculator, papercalculator.org
“We are very proud to be working alongside Sprint in their commitment to reducing its environmental footprint,”
says Berkley.
About Tension
Tension Corporation, a privately-owned-and-operated company based in Kansas City, MO, is a global leader in envelope products and packaging & automation solutions. The envelope division serves a variety of industries including financial, insurance and direct marketing, as well as working with 3rd party providers directly. Founded in 1886, Tension produces more than 12 billion envelopes annually and has regional plants and offices throughout the country and the world. Visit www.tensionenvelope.com for more information.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 56 million customers at the end of the first quarter of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries, over the last four years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
About ecoEnvelopes
ecoEnvelopes is an environmental company that designs reusable 2-way envelopes and mailing solutions that reduce mail costs and benefit the environment. The company partners with licensed manufacturers to produce mailing solutions for nonprofits, direct mail marketers and statement mailers across the United States. ecoEnvelopes mail solutions are manufactured exclusively on certified papers from managed forests with up to 100% post-consumer recycled content. The company’s innovative products meet the growing desire of corporations, organizations and consumers to participate in environmental stewardship. To learn more visitwww.ecoenvelopes.com.
About DST Output
DST Output, LLC provides cross-media customer communications that address the broad spectrum of consumer preferences. Last year, DST Output and its affiliates produced more than 3.5 billion transactional communications that were received via postal, email, Web and mobile applications. DST Output is one of the largest First-Class™ mailers in the United States.
