In response to falling mail volumes and rising operational costs, PostNL has announced it will start emptying mailboxes in a staggered manner throughout the day to improve efficiency and sustainability.
From February 2025, PostNL will empty approximately 75% of mailboxes throughout the day, rather than during the current 5:00pm-7:00pm window. Mailboxes that will be emptied after 5:00pm are in easily accessible places where people regularly come, such as shopping malls and stations.
Maurice Unck, managing director of mail NL at Post NL, explained, “Maintaining a reliable and accessible postal network for everyone in the Netherlands remains of great importance to us. Currently, the mail in all mailboxes is picked up after 5:00pm, which means that thousands of mailboxes are emptied within a short period of time – between 5:00pm and 7:00pm. This requires a lot of effort from vans, drivers and kilometers, which is costly, inefficient and not sustainable.
“By emptying some of the mailboxes during the day, we can organize our processes more efficiently. For both consumers and business customers, mailboxes remain available at busy locations that are emptied after 5:00pm. With this step, we ensure that the postal service remains accessible and affordable for everyone in the Netherlands.”
In smaller residential areas, where there is often only one mailbox, collection times will remain largely the same. Mourning and medical mail will remain a priority within PostNL’s social services, with those mailboxes continuing to be emptied every day after 5:00pm and on Sundays. These mailboxes will remain in the same locations, such as hospitals, to ensure accessibility.