Junk mail next for chop?
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Junk mail could be banned under new environmental legislation in Wales if the environment minister gets her way, Wales on Sunday reports.
Sustainability minister Jane Davidson said it wasn’t enough to expect the receivers of junk mail to recycle it themselves and that tougher action was needed.
"We want Wales to be a green country and we need to drive forward that agenda. At the moment the responsibility for getting rid of junk mail sits with the person who receives it," she explained.
"We might want to turn that on its head and may consider a measure that will deal with this issue. Junk mail contributes nothing to the environment.
"We may like measures to restrict delivery. The powers we have asked for from the UK government would give us the authority to take forward these kinds of measures.
"We’ve got to get some strong messages over, she insisted.
The Environment Agency estimates that junk mail from households and businesses helps to create 4.6 million tonnes of landfill in Wales every year, however, junk mail is vital to the business of Royal Mail and direct marketers.
A Royal Mail spokesman said of junk mail: "Our future depends on it competing effectively in all parts of the market and that includes unaddressed mail."
The Direct Marketing Association claims that junk mail accounts for 814,000 jobs in the UK and that in 2005 alone it generated business worth £107 billion.
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