PostNL removing more orange post boxes and mail volumes continue to fall

Netherlands residents send fewer letters and cards each year. PostNL is, therefore, removing more orange mailboxes because they’re not getting much use. Around 300 of the approximately 11,000 mailboxes will get an announcement sticker this week and will disappear at the end of August.

It concerns mailboxes in Noord-Holland, Friesland, and Groningen. The Friesland village of Sweagerbosk will lose its only postbox.

According to the postal company, it only removes post boxes that receive little to no mail. “If there is almost nothing in such a mailbox, it only costs time and money,” a spokesperson told NOS. “We have been doing this for 225 years, so we know from experience how much ends up in each mailbox.”

The company stressed that it still adheres to the Postal Act, which stipulates that residential areas with over 5,000 inhabitants must have a mailbox within every 1-kilometer radius and smaller neighborhoods within 2.5 kilometers.

PostNL also stressed that it consulted municipalities and senior citizens’ associations when deciding which mailboxes to remove. “In places where people send a lot of physical mail, like near hospitals or healthcare institutions, they will remain,” the spokesperson said. “People do not have to worry that all mailboxes will disappear because a lot of them will remain.”

While it removes mailboxes, PostNL will place more parcel machines on the streets, many of which will also have a slot for letters. The postal company is seeing a huge shift toward sending parcels and expects these machines to be more useful to consumers.

“People can choose when they want to pick up or drop off a parcel or letter. Of course, this is also possible at some shops, but that is sometimes limited due to the opening hours. These machines make it easier, and they are frequently used. They are located in strategic places and are also found in villages, for example.”