The waste strategy announced by David Miliband, the environment secretary, is a wide-ranging package of measures aiming to cut waste and increase recycling rates. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Miliband promised to "not only to recycle and re-use waste but to prevent it in the first place".

Opting out of unaddressed junk mail

One of the ideas that will be considered is an agreement with the Direct Marketing Association which will allow people to opt out of receiving unaddressed mail. At the moment people can opt out of receiving unaddressed mail items distributed by Royal Mail but there is no opt-out scheme for unaddressed junk mail in general.

The Direct Marketing Association does already operate the Mailing Preference Service; an opt-out scheme for addressed junk mail. The service aims to 'enable consumers to have their name removed from direct mailing lists used by the industry'. However, in the 20 years since the Mailing Preference Service was set up the amount of junk mail posted through British letter boxes has increased year on year, leading to calls for a more robust system.

Another idea is to be considered is the introduction of a system whereby people have to opt in to receive junk mail. However, Mr Miliband made it clear government has a preference for "voluntary agreements with industry", making it unlikely that an opt-in system will be developed in the near future.

Other measures announced in the waste strategy include:

• Allowing councils to develop 'incentive schemes' that will make households that produce a lot of waste pay more and households that produce little waste less.
• Working with supermarkets to phase out single use plastic bags.
• Making it easier for people to recycle by providing kerbside collections for at least five separate types of waste (glass, paper, plastic, food waste and tins and cans). Food waste should be collected weekly and be used to generate energy.
• Encouraging more recycling facilities in public areas, including airports, railway stations and parks.
• Working with industry to cut the amount of packaging on everyday goods.

Links

• Waste strategy for England 2007 (defra.gov.uk)