As a result of Sarbanes-Oxley, the costs associated with recycling, primarily transportation and the purchase of supplies used to collect recyclables, are no longer allowed to be offset by the revenues received. In order to process the invoices for recycling costs, general ledger account (GLA) number 56607.696 was established.
Management Instruction EL-890-2009-9 Recycling Undeliverable Standard Mail, Discarded Lobby Mail, and Other Recyclable Materials, establishes the use of GLA# 56607.696, Waste Disposal Costs — Recyclable Materials, Dead Mail, etc., also known as Account Identifier Code (AIC) 696.
To account for revenue received from recycling activities, use AIC 149 for proceeds from the sale of plastic, paper, and paperboard, including undeliverable Standard Mail (USM) and old corrugated cardboard (OCC); AIC 156 for proceeds from scrap metal; and AIC 696 for recording associated costs.
A recent nationwide review of these accounts revealed that AIC 696 is not being used by most district accounting offices for this purpose. A majority of the districts use GLA# 54153, Garbage and Sewage Disposal. GLA# 54153 is intended for costs associated with solid waste disposal — not recycling. Recycling costs should be placed in GLA# 56607.696 so that the Postal Service can accurately determine the impacts of expanding its recycling programs and the necessary changes to recycling contracts.
District personnel offices are requested to change their procedures and begin entering the costs associated with recycling into GLA# 56607.696.
