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No Junk Mail

Government Joins Forces with the Direct Marketing Association to Reduce Junk Mail

A new free-to-use website is set to be launched during 2012 which will help to cut down the amount of junk mail we receive through our doors. DEFRA is joining forces with the Direct Marketing Association to create one central place for residents to register their mail preferences. This will replace the current method of having to register with the Mailing Preference Service, the Your Choice Preference System and Royal Mail’s Door to Door opt-out service.

The scheme is part of the Government’s drive for a zero waste economy and fulfills a commitment from the Waste Review which was announced in June. The Government is also putting pressure on companies to produce all direct mail from recyclable and sustainable sources.

What's the Problem with Junk Mail?

17.5 billion pieces of junk mail are produced every year in the UK. This includes both addressed and unaddressed junk mail.
To produce all this junk mail 550,000 tonnes of paper and 16.5 billion litres of water are used.
It takes about 17 mature trees to produce a tonne of paper. The equivalent of 550,000 tonnes of paper is therefore 9.35 million trees.
In Leicestershire, residents receive over 1,700 tonnes of junk mail every year which uses approximately: 28,900 trees, 11,900,000 gallons of water, 663,000 gallons of oil.
90% of all junk mail goes straight in the bin.
Over the last five years the overall volume of junk mail sent out has decreased slightly, by an estimated 0.2 per cent per year.
650 pieces of junk mail are posted through the average British letterbox every year.
On average 80 pieces of addressed junk mail are sent out to the 583,000 people who die every year in the UK following their death.

Source: Stop Junk Mail Campaign - www.stopjunkmail.org.uk

Do you need double glazing or perhaps another takeaway menu?

If not you may be one of many people plagued by junk mail.

Leicestershire Waste Partnership is committed to helping you reduce the amount of junk mail you receive. This also reduces the amount we need to landfill or recycle not to mention all the trees and energy we can save by not producing it in the first place!

“Although we may be able to recycle most
junk mail, preventing it is even better!”

So how can you say no to junk mail?

1) Say No to Junk Mail – Leicestershire Waste Partnership can provide you with stickers to let people know you no longer want junk mail. Contact 0116 305 7005 for your free stickers.

Make sure your no junk mail sticker is in a prominent position on or near your front door to ensure maximum impact.

2) Mail Preference Service – register with MPS and get your name and address removed from mailing lists.

“A great service which gives you the right to choose what mail you receive.”

MPS supports your right to choose what mail you receive. By signing up, MPS can remove your details from up to 95% of direct mailing lists. It is actively supported by the Royal Mail and all directly involved trade associations and fully supported by The Information Commissioners Office.

MPS is a free service.

You can expect to continue to receive mailings from companies with whom you have done business in the past.
You may still receive mailings from small, local companies. If you wish these mailings to be stopped, you must notify these companies directly.
It can take up to four months before you start to see a significant difference in the amount of direct mail you receive.
Registration with MPS lasts for 5 years.
MPS cannot stop unaddressed mail, mail from overseas or mail addressed to the “Occupier”.

MPS can also offer a variety of other services including:

Baby MPS – this service can be used to stop mailings from baby related companies.
FPS – fax preference service can protect you from unwanted sales material by fax.
TPS – telephone preference service can stop unwanted sales and marketing calls on your home and mobile numbers.

For further information on any of the services offered by MPS please visit www.mpsonline.org.uk

But how do you stop flyers and unaddressed mail that comes through the letterbox?

3) Direct Marketing Association -“Your Choice scheme”

Helps reduce unaddressed junk mail delivered by members of DMA.

Many local and national organisations communicate information using unaddressed mail and door to door material delivered directly to their homes. Such items can include free newspapers & magazines, catalogues, local directories and free product samples. They may also include local authorities, central government, utility companies (e.g. gas, water, electricity), public service organisations, political parties, local education bodies and local shops & services.

Unaddressed Mail or ‘door to door’ items (i.e. items that do not have individual names or addresses recorded on them) are delivered to homes by a number of different companies.

Although these communications can be informative, door to door distribution companies recognise that not everyone wishes to receive these items. Those companies that are members of the DMA agree to abide by the expressed wishes of householders who do not wish to receive unaddressed material through their letterbox.

For details on how you can exercise ‘Your Choice’ and ask distribution companies to stop the delivery of unaddressed mail to your home, please contact the DMA by letter, fax, telephone or e-mail and ask for details of the ‘Your Choice’ Preference Service for Unaddressed Mail.

Contact details for Your Choice
Your Choice Preference Scheme
Direct Marketing Association (UK) Ltd
DMA House
70, Margaret Street,
London W1W 8SS
Telephone: 020 7291 3300
Fax: 020 7323 4165
Email: yourchoice@dma.org.uk

Or visit www.mydm.co.uk for more information

4) Royal Mail Opt Out scheme

Stops unaddressed mail delivered by Royal Mail.

However, there are a few things you should consider before doing this:

The opt out service only relates to unaddressed mail. Royal Mail is still legally obliged to deliver all addressed mail, which includes mail that is addressed “To the Occupier” as well as personally addressed mail.
Opting out from Royal Mail Door to Door stops all unaddressed items from being delivered by them including advertising offers or leaflets from Central and Local Government and other public bodies (although the Royal Mail would work with Government to get a message to every UK address in exceptional circumstances). Election material is not delivered by the Door to Door service and is therefore not affected by this opt out.
Opting out means no one at the address will receive unaddressed mail items.
Royal Mail only delivers about 25% of the total volume of unaddressed mail items in the United Kingdom. The opt out will not cover any other distributors (see sections 2 and 3 for details on how to tackle other mail carriers).
The opt-out service will expire after 2 years at which point you need to re-register. Royal Mail will not automatically send you a new registration form.

If you wish to opt out of receiving Door to Door mail items, please send or email your name and address to the address below:

Freepost RRBT-ZBXB-TTTS
Royal Mail Door to Door Opt Outs
Kingsmead House
Oxpens Road
OXFORD
OX1 1RX

or email: optout@royalmail.com

Once you’ve opted out, Royal Mail will stop delivering unaddressed items to your address within 6 weeks

For further details visit: www.royalmail.com

5) Say ‘No’ to further information

When you give your name and address to a company make sure you opt out of their mailing list and do not let them share your details with other companies.

6) Opt out of the edited register

When you fill out your electoral registration form make sure your details are not added to the ‘edited voting register’ which may be bought by companies for mailing purposes.

7) Return to sender

Junk mail with a return address can be returned. Just write on the envelope ‘Unsolicited mail, return to sender’ and pop it back in the post box.

8) Contact the sender

If you continue to receive junk mail contact the company directly to ask them to stop, they are legally obliged to respect your request.

If you require this information in an alternative version such as large print, Braille, audio or help in understanding it in your language, please contact 0116 305 7005.