The draft standard, seen by Marketing Direct, was produced by the British Standards Institute (BSI) in consultation with a panel of DM experts and advocates use of paper that is 75% recycled for direct mail, door drops and inserts. It also recommends excluding all plastic and polythene from direct mail outers.
The BSI standard was commissioned by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and sponsors including Royal Mail, data services company Acxiom and ISBA, the client organisation.
There has been mixed reaction to the draft standard, which was sent to a large review panel consisting of agencies, suppliers and client companies. The consultation period ends on 25 July 2008, with a launch planned for September.
Adoption of the standard is voluntary, but the DMA is strongly advocating uptake by its members.
The catalogue sector stands to be most affected by the recommendations because of its use of plastic and paper, and a concern that recycled stock will conflict with design and quality requirements. One catalogue marketer describing the BSI proposals as "very scary".
A key concern for agencies and printers is the poor supply of recycled paper in the UK and its cost. Robert Mayes, group communications director at WWAV Rapp Collins, welcomed the standard's general thrust but said that eco-friendly materials were costly.
"The issue we have with recycled paper is quality, cost and the availability of the right kind of recycled paper at the right size," said Robert Mayes, group communications director at WWAV Rapp Collins. He called on the industry to work with paper manufacturers to find less costly, high quality paper.
Mayes added that clients "will go apoplectic at some of the [BSI] measures, but we must take the opportunity to do something meaningful and get clients on board, or otherwise the Government will take action."
Luke Pigott, managing director of DM services provider the Howard Hunt Group, said: "Recycled paper is more expensive because of supply and demand. As paper manufacture is very capital intensive, it won't be produced unless the demand is high. The DM printer has his hands tied -- we can be as environmentally friendly as we want, but if we can't get our hands on the materials, it becomes so much harder."
The DMA is not planning to make adherence to the standard mandatory for its members, but hasn't ruled out doing so in the future.
"I'm hoping it has widespread take-up and that clients grab this as a tangible tool that helps them be as environmentally friendly as possible," said Robert Keitch, the DMA's director of media channel development. "If there isn't wide support for the standard, it will say to the policy makers that this industry is not capable of taking action and that they should do it for us."
He added that the DMA involved the BSI "so that the whole of UK commerce can access this, not just DMA members".
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