A revamp of the direct mail opt-out – designed to simplify the process – has been criticised by industry sources, who claim it will do little to stop the real problem of local businesses which ignore the current system.
The move is just one part of a new three-year deal between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the DMA.
It commits the DM industry to a series of green targets to cut physical waste and carbon emissions, and includes a commitment to achieve a 25% increase on the industry’s current use of suppression files, maintain public awareness of the consumer preference services and retain established direct mail recycling rates.
Some 40% of all direct mail produced will have to conform to the requirements of a new industry environmental standard that will replace PAS 2020.
Key to the VPR deal is the aim of preventing waste being produced by the DM industry. This differs to the aim of the last voluntary producer agreement that the DMA signed with Defra in 2004, which committed the industry to hitting a staggered series of recycling targets for direct mail over the course of ten years. The industry hit its 2013 target of 75% of all advertising mail being recycled four years ahead of schedule in 2009.
The first part of the deal sees a new website replace the existing opt-out system, where households have to register with at least three different services – the Mailing Preference Service, the Your Choice Preference System and Royal Mail’s Door to Door opt-out service. It will be hosted on the Mailing Preference Service website and the others will be phased out.
But one industry source said: “Will this make a difference? Forget it. It might be a vote winner, and appease a few Daily Mail readers, for the Government to look tough, but in reality people actually like getting direct mail. The main annoyance is the piles of pizza and takeaway menus, and this won’t stop that.”
Another insider said: “Why is direct mail always under fire? Politicians are all too keen to stop what they call junk mail, yet when it comes to election time they are the worse culprits. And the thing is, you can’t opt-out of that stuff. ”
Unveiling the scheme, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: “We have all returned home from holidays to be greeted by a mountain of unwanted, unsolicited mail waiting behind the front door, most of which is thrown straight out. These piles of paper irritate householders, waste businesses’ money and are environmentally unsustainable.”
According to the DMA, the average household receives more than 300 items of unaddressed and 77 items of addressed mail a year. Spelman said the initiative would make sure that the direct mail that was sent out was produced to higher standards and was fully recyclable.
“This also throws down the gauntlet to those companies hand delivering brochures and fast food menus to respect ‘no junk mail’ signs and only deliver what people want.”
Companies are also being asked to produce all direct mail from paper that has originated from a certified sustainable source, or made from recycled paper – 380,000 tonnes of direct marking material were produced in 2009, of which almost 80% was recycled.
The DMA said it will develop a carbon calculator for paper direct marketing material by the end of 2013 so businesses can see the carbon footprint of the direct mail they produce and deliver, and take action to lower it.