Council helps residents to reduce junk mail

Shropshire Council and Veolia are delighted to see that local residents have responded well to a campaign to help reduce the amount of unwanted mail that they receive.  

The latest figures show that (since the campaign began in February 2011) an extra 5,360 households have signed up to the Mailing Preference Service (MPS), so there are now over 47,000 local households on the register, which represents a 13% increase. 

It is estimated that, solely within the Shropshire Council area, nearly 50 million individual items or some 2,200 tonnes of unwanted mail gets delivered to homes every year.  By adding your address to the MPS register you can choose the mail you receive, prevent unwanted direct mailing, and make a significant reduction in the amount you receive. 

Mike Owen, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for waste management, said:

“We encourage residents to sign up to the Mail Preference Service because it avoids unnecessary waste, which is good news for local council taxpayers and for the environment.  It is free and easy to register, just go online and enter your address details at www.mpsonline.org.uk.” 

Donald MacPhail, Regional Director for Veolia in Shropshire, added:

“Although residents can recycle junk mail, free papers, leaflets, fliers and envelopes through the kerbside recycling box collection scheme, it would be even better not to produce so much waste in the first place.  The www.mpsonline.org.uk service is about giving people a choice to control what they receive.” 

Further information 

Mailing Preference Service (MPS) is a voluntary initiative run by the Direct Marketing Association, the industry body which supports your right to choose the mail you want. 

With UK consumers generating over £25 billion worth of postal sales per year, there is clearly an economic case for marketing by post.  However, with thousands of tonnes of largely unwanted mail never even being read and just creating extra household waste, it’s understandable why some take a different view.  The MPS allows you to make your choice known – so you get the mail you want and need. 

It’s completely free to register.  Simply by phone – 0845 703 4599, online www.mpsonline.org.uk or email mps@dma.org.uk.