Returned to sender: the tragic story of an invoice that never reached its destination

Global – Recycling International has readers and subscribers in 125 countries. Every month, some 7000 copies of the magazine as well as hundreds of mailings and invoices are sent out from our headquarters in the Netherlands to our customers all over the world. Normally, a piece of paper is just a piece of paper…

This week, there was a poignant reminder of what it can sometimes mean to be a truly global business. A courier arrived at the door to our offices and handed over a package sealed in transparent plastic with a battered paper envelope bearing the Recycling International logo. The envelope contained an invoice which had been sent out almost a year ago to a customer in Malaysia but which had never reached its destination.

Here is why: on July 17 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in Eastern Ukraine costing the lives of 298 people. On board, there were some 1000 kg of parcels and letters – of which around 50 kg have been recovered from the crash site, including the Recycling International invoice.

The recovered postal items were initially held back as possible evidence for the team investigating what may have caused the crash but these have now been returned to their senders, most of whom are in the Netherlands.