10 November 2007 - Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has urged the direct marketing industry to advertise the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) on all direct mail.
Speaking at the Marketing Direct Green Conference, Roy Hathaway, head of waste management at Defra, indicated that the Government expects the direct marketing industry to improve its green policies. Apart from information about the MPS, Defra would like to see recycling logos included on commercial mailings.
The conference, organised by Marketing Direct Magazine, looked at how marketeers can profit from green policies and can be seen in the context of the waste strategy white paper, published in May this year. In the white paper, the Government said the marketing industry should do more to reduce waste and that it will consider the introduction of an opt-in system for direct mail if the industry fails to introduce measures that reduce waste.
The Government wishes to see the amount of unnecessary direct mail, and therefore waste, minimised. According to the regulator, Postcomm, junk mail accounts for around 550,000 tonnes of paper.
Mr Hathaway repeated the Government prefers volutary codes of practice over regulation. However, he also warned the conference that an opt-in to direct mail is still "a concept Defra wants to discuss".
The idea to include notification of the MPS on all direct mail was rejected by Robert Keitch, director of Media Channel Development and Environment at the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). Mr Keitch said that advertising the MPS on direct mail would be an "unsophisticated and blunt axe response." Instead, brands should be able to put their own 'unsubscribe label' on their material. According to Mr Keitch this would safeguard marketeers' commercial freedom, while giving consumers the option to "choose their preferences."