09.Apr.2010 Belgium Bans the Book

This week, Belgian Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne announced that the country would adopt an opt-in system for residential telephone directories – appropriately enough, via Twitter. Since printed directories have effectively been superseded by online directories, from 2011, white pages directories will not be delivered in Belgium unless a consumer requests one.

It’s estimated that this would save 3,000 tonnes of paper. In the UK, we could save a staggering 36,900 tonnes of paper if a centralised opt-in system was setup for all printed directories!

This announcement marks a key turning point in the way that countries deal with the environmental menace of unwanted phonebooks, and so the ‘Say No To Phonebooks’ campaign team is calling on Ofcom to introduce a similar ruling in the UK. With over 12,000 signatures on our Downing St ePetition, there is a huge amount of public support for the government to help establish a centralised opt-in system for phonebooks.

Now is the time for Britain to be at the forefront of environmental change in Europe. A Europe-wide opt-in system would be a massive plus for the environment and complement the EU directive to reduce landfill.

Minister Quickenborne announces that Belgium will adopt an opt-in system for residential telephone directories