Survey set to find out how much direct mail is recycled

The organisations have appointed Birmingham-based consultancy M.E.L Research to assess what proportion of the 5.4 billion items of direct mail sent to householders each year are recovered, to help direct future strategies to increase recycling.

The objective is to help track DMA's progress in complying with the voluntary producer responsibility agreement reached with Defra in 2003, which commits the industry to ensuring 55% of direct mail is recycled by the end of 2009, and 70% by the end of 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).  Defra also outlined plans to tackle direct mail in its Waste Strategy 2007 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Research 

Up to now, the quality of information on the national recycling rate for direct mail has been fairly limited. However, the new study will involve a survey to determine recycling rates in 2009. Research will include sampling 44 local authorities a year and reporting on the past six months' average direct mail recycling rate.

M.E.L. will also use a special sampling matrix to take into account national trends on frequency of collection of specific recycling schemes and geographical profiling. All local authorities consenting that their area can be included in the survey will receive the specific survey results pertaining to their area.

The baseline data from the study will be used to help improve future recycling rates and help to direct future strategy, communication campaigns and partnership working. In particular, it will help determine which sectors of the community are recycling which types of direct mail, how much extra direct mail could be recycled and evaluating the use of receptacles used for collecting waste.

Commenting on the new assignment, M.E.L Research's chief executive Dr Robert Pocock said: “This is a tough assignment and presents all sorts of technical difficulties in ensuring the industry and government get an accurate picture. Direct mail keeps householders informed and is an important channel of communication, but people are naturally concerned at the quantities of this material and most people want it recycled without risking their identity being misused.

“Up to now there has been quite a lot of guesswork in estimating how much is actually being recycled, and I'm delighted our consultancy practice has been awarded the challenging job of providing an accurate and definitive statement of the current position,” he added.

Chris Edwards, senior insight manager at Royal Mail said: “M.E.L's robust and accurate measurement of mail recycling is central to Royal Mail's commitment to develop a sustainable future for the Direct Mail industry”.