The ‘Say No To Phonebooks’ campaign team would like to respond directly to your post and thank you for taking the time to explain the DPA’s position on the subject.

However, the first and most important thing we would like to point out about this campaign is that we’re looking to significantly reduce the production, delivery and collection of unwanted phonebooks. You say we assume phonebooks are ‘unwanted’. We know, from independent research, that 41% of people simply don’t use printed directories anymore. Directory advertisers market to the other half of the population, while our target is to reduce the natural and local government resources wasted on this 41%. Still don’t believe us? The anecdotal evidence is everywhere – phonebooks left on doorsteps and 1 in 4 people saying that last year’s phonebook never even made it out of the plastic (including Pamela from Gavin & Stacey!).

If we no longer produced directories for this 41%, we have the potential to save:
– 25,000 tonnes of waste
– 100 million kilowatts of electricity
– 300,000 barrels of oil
– 820 million litres of water
– £3 million worth of council funds
– And 33,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions

All this without affecting local commerce and communities because this is simply about not delivering phonebooks to people who don’t use them.

On the point of an opt-out facility being available, is this service widely publicised? Is this information easy to find on the publishers website? Is it promoted on the inside cover of the phonebook? The best place we’ve found to opt-out of phonebooks all in one place is http://www.junkbuster.org.uk

Further to the press release, if the new Yell directories have been designed to fit through letter boxes, will they be delivered even when a person has a ‘No Junk Mail’ sticker?

Regards
Katie Gardner
Say No To Phonebooks

Your premise appears to be that phonebooks are unwanted and are an
environmental burden. This is simply not the case – our members’
directories are well-used, make a strong contribution to local economies
and are produced in a highly responsible and sustainable manner.

Directory publishers work closely with local authorities to recycle and
divert used directories from landfill and the four main publishers, Yell,
BT, Thomson Local and KCOM, have made considerable progress. Together they
have achieved an aggregate rate of 73.88% – already ahead of the 70%
benchmark Defra is expecting all sides of the publishing and direct mail
industries to achieve by 2013.

If you add in the impact of programmes such as composting and energy
recovery, then diversion from landfill is even higher, with one of our
larger publishers reporting rates of over 90% – a remarkable achievement,
and some way from the picture painted in the media of directories clogging
up landfill sites.

In addition, the aggregate use of recycled paper by the four publishers
mentioned is above 50%, already close to the Defra target for 2013. All
directories are 100 per cent recyclable.

Directories play a vital role in underpinning commerce in local communities
across the country, linking consumers and businesses
with traders and suppliers. The value of transactions generated by Yellow
Pages alone is estimated to be in excess of £67 bn a year. And Stephen
Alambritis, of the Federation of Small Businesses, is recently on record
stating his members rely on printed directories for their success.

Thousands of traders and local companies wouldn’t promote themselves in
local directory phone books if they didn’t work in generating business for
them – and they clearly wouldn’t work if consumers didn’t want them and
binned them unopened.

I’d also like to emphasise that all UK directory publishers maintain an
opt-out scheme that enables consumers to choose not to receive a printed
directory. This is a workable, successful option offering consumer choice.
The number choosing this option is small.

There is, of course, no room here for complacency in any of this. That’s
why the DPA has drawn up a Sustainability Code of Practice, setting
standards publishers must observe, and each year produces a report showing
both compliance and progress towards the 2013 targets set by Defra.

One final point, you claim that your campaign has led to Yell reducing the
size of its Yellow Pages directories. This is not the case, but was a decision
based on research into the views of consumers as explained in the following
press release:

http://tinyurl.com/yhkjonh

Jerry Gosney
Executive Director
Data Publishers Association

Independent research shows that 41% of people simply don’t use printed directories anymore. If we saved the natural resources and council funds consumed for these directories, we have an instant win without affecting consumers or local businesses.