Archive for the ‘Environmental responsibility’ Category

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Greener IT and Desk Top PCs

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

A business with a network of 20,000 desktop systems running 24 x 7 drawing 200 watts will consume about 35 million kWh of electricity annually. Using the average U.S. cost of electricity at $.0855/kWh, this would cost this business approximately $3 million in utility charges annually.

Today we know that, depending on local utility rates, a computer and monitor left running 24 x 7 x 365 drawing 60 watts will consume about $50/year in electricity, while a higher-end 300 watt device will cost about $225/year (based on an average U.S. utility rate of $.0855/kWh).

On a base of 20,000 workstations, implementing power management policies and standards would represent an annual savings of between $900,000 on the lower-end 60 watt devices and up to $2.4 million on a base of higher-end devices annually.

Does anyone know, given our electricity tarrifs  how all this translates into UK pounds?

Posted in Business Link, Environmental responsibility, IT Costs | No Comments »

Direct Mail and Public Perception

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Paper has been identified as a material where reduced waste and greater recycling can yield significant environmental benefits.

The Government has already concluded voluntary producer responsibility agreement to promote, in particular, increased recycling magazines and direct mail the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

Add in Newspapers and these three waste streams are estimated to amount to about 3.6 million tonnes (which would equate to about 14% of total household waste).

Direct marketing material estimated to account for approximately just 2% of this but the public perceive it to be much higher because it is so visible. More and more consumers are concerning themselves with environmental and social issues and 53% of UK and 66% of US consumers have considered switching brand due to corporate social responsibility. 51% said they or their family had boycotted a company because its products damage the environment.

For companies that send out large mailings our service helps to address corporate social responsibility and the issue of ‘producer responsibility’ in that all waste paper generated is disposed of properly. 80% of the carbon footprint for a piece of mail is in this ‘end of life’ solution. It also helps with BSI Standard PAS2020, Sustainable Mail and new EU directives on landfill,

Public perception about the much maligned ‘Junk Mail’ is skewed because it is so visible and in the home but opting out is all or nothing and who has not at sometime been prompted to make purchase from direct mail?

Protect your brand, reduce your carbon footprint, and save shed loads of money just call us now.

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, Catalogues, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

Cut the cost of returned mail handling and make your customers happy

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Would you like to reduce the cost of handling returned mail and enhance the service you offer your customers? Veridata established in 1996 provides a dedicated, automated and fast turn around data capture for returned and undelivered mail.  We have the capacity to process large volumes at a competitive price and the ROI is substantial.

Our cost is more than met by the savings made, helps to meet the requirements of PAS2020 and Sustainable Mail and includes the safe destruction and recycling of all waste paper.

Licensed to process CodEffect 2d barcode, a powerful method of encoding large amounts of data and successfully used by HMRC and Tesco. Since using it, the latter have seen a 50% reduction in its operational costs for returned mail over the last six months.

Attracting a lower charge rate to capture than standard alpha/numeric data, we can return the data files on a daily basis if required. We tailor our service to save you money.


Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, Catalogues, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

2008 Alistair Darling today confirmed that the Landfill Tax will rise by £8 per tonne each year from next month, as part of his first Budget as Chancellor.

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Landfill Tax will, as expected, be £32 per tonne from April 1, 2008.

2010 £48 per tonne

Mr Darling said within a Budget, which was given a green tint thanks to a pledge on plastic bags, that the Landfill Tax will, as expected, be £32 per tonne from April 1, 2008.

The tax – working with other measures – has been successful with overall quantities of waste recorded at landfill sites registered for the tax falling by around 26%.

It is seen as the key driver of the UK’s move away from using landfill disposal – and the main hope of meeting European waste targets under the Landfill Directive in 2010, 2013 and 2020.

Wednesday 12 March 2008 Legislation News

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

Save up to 50% on your returned and ‘gone way’ mail

Monday, March 29th, 2010

We are in partnership with Arbutus Ridge to process their CodEffect 2d barcode, a powerful method of encoding large amounts of data and successfully used by HMRC and Tesco. The latter have seen a 50% reduction in its operational costs for returned mail. It attracts a lower charge rate to capture than standard alpha/numeric data and we can return the data files on a daily basis if required.
Veridata now offers this encrypted 2d bar-coding system which means that capture of name & address, campaign codes etc. is considerably cheaper and enables us to offer our customers great savings for processing their returned mail.

CodEffect capture solution offer a fixed charge, regardless of the amount of data captured. The service has two distinct elements – simple data capture from returns and data verification & enhancement. If required it can explain the reason for returns, which can be run against a number of industry wide data sets.
The discreet two-dimensional barcode can be set in various places in or outside the envelope

For the “core” data capture service the price is simply based on the number of scans performed – the amount of data captured is irrelevant. There is no charge for the software or the creation of the barcode.
Also included in the cost is the destruction and responsible disposal of all waste paper, which is recycled locally; reduces your carbon footprint. Our service also helps you to comply with EU Directives on Landfill PAS2020 and Royal Mail’s Sustainable Mail.

Technical Requirements
Veridata in partnership with Arbutus Ridge will provide all software required to manage the printing of the CodEffect 2d barcodes free of charge and will work alongside the Client and chosen print company to install and test the process. Full technical requirements will be produced on agreement of contract.
Supplied as Windows DLL’s, which you can integrate using Visual Basic

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, Catalogues, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

Further Restrictions on Landfill and Returned Mail

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

I am thinking how will this affect the Direct Mail Sector? There are  targets set to reduce all waste paper generated by direct mail going to landfill as there is already the issue of ‘producer responsibility’ in that all waste paper generated is disposed of properly. 80% of the carbon footprint for a piece of mail is in this ‘end of life’ solution.

Our service includes safe destruction and recycling of all waste paper and  helps meet the requirements of PAS2020 and Sustainable Mail

Consultation on the introduction of restrictions on the landfilling of certain wastes
1. I am writing to invite views on the possible introduction of further restrictions on the landfilling of biodegradable and recyclable wastes in England and Wales.
2. This joint Defra and Welsh Assembly Government consultation is in response to the commitment in the Waste Strategy for England 2007 and the commitment of the Welsh Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing’s written cabinet statement of 2nd December 2009 to consult on whether the introduction of further restrictions on the landfilling of biodegradable and recyclable wastes would make an effective contribution to meeting the objectives set out in the respective waste strategies for England and Wales, of reducing GHG emissions and increasing resource efficiency and in respect of Wales, of decreasing the ecological footprint associated with waste. The consultation aims to obtain the views of interested parties on the policy options presented with a view towards introducing one or more of them into law(s) in England and Wales.
3. This is a first stage consultation on the options under consideration for restricting wastes from landfill. It is intended to be a high-level consultation to identify preferred option(s) which could be taken forward if desirable, practical and affordable. If Government decides change is desirable a second stage consultation will follow on the preferred option(s) and the way any restriction or requirement would be introduced and who the onus would fall upon and accompanied by draft Regulations to implement these option(s).
4. The following documents may be found on Defra’s website at:
www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/landfill-restrictions/index.htm
and on the Welsh Assembly Government’s website at:
www.wales.gov.uk/consultations / www.cymru.gov.uk/ymgynghoriadau

Issued: 2010-03-18
Consultation starts: 2010-03-18
Consultation closes: 2010-06-10

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

PAS 2020 – ”millions of pounds of punitive fines by the EU.”

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Direct Marketing News: BSI launch scheme to help save DM industry

The British standards institution (BSI) has launched a new scheme to help reduce the amount of direct mail produced by marketers that ends up in landfill.

The business services organisation has worked with the DMA to develop the PAS 2020 direct marketing environmental performance assessment and certification scheme. It is designed to help meet targets set out by the EU Landfill Directive which requires the current amount of biodegradable waste (11.55 million tonnes) thrown  in landfill to be reduced to 5.2 million tonnes by 2020.

It is estimated 5.4 billion items of direct mail and promotional items are sent out every year. The DMA, who represent about 900 members involved in the direct marketing industry, signed a voluntary agreement with the Government in 2003 to raise recycling levels to 70 per cent by 2012. PAS 2020 is also designed to help reach this target.

Victoria Barron, product marketing manager for sustainability at BSI warned, “Failure to meet these targets could result in millions of pounds of punitive fines by the EU.”

DM campaigns have become less popular with marketers since social media marketing has increased as they are seen to be more costly and time consuming. Added pressure to make sure they are recycled or possibly face fines could cause marketers to opt out of DM altogether. B2B Marketing News

http://www.b2bm.bi

Published: 11-03-2010

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail | No Comments »

Cloning, Sheep and Spring

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

My neighbours are coming to the end of lambing and I was looking at the new arrivals twins and triplets. It got me thinking about cloning and what has happened since Dolly the sheep. I have to say all sheep look the same to me.

I saw Caryl Churchill’s A Number an original work published in 2002 in London in association with The Royal Court Theatre. In fact I saw it twice but then I would, family and all that.

A Number was written during a time when cloning was frequently in the news. Dolly the sheep was cloned not too long before, human embryos were being created in the U.S. and at Advanced Cell Technology, they cloned a kitten.

These events sparked moral controversy among people around the world raising the question of how far human cloning should be taken.

The play debuted at The Royal Court Theatre in London on 23 September 2002. The production was directed by Stephen Daldry and designed by Ian MacNeil and starred Sir Michael Gambon and Daniel Craig. The play won the 2002 Evening Standard Award for Best Play.

Posted in Daniel Craig, Environmental responsibility, Moral questions, Serendipity, Theatre | No Comments »

Direct Mail and the Government voluntary producer responsibility agreements

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Action by the Direct Marketing Association

Further develop the MPS system (Mailing Preference Service) to improve the targeting element and provide greater flexibility for both the consumer and the producer; and further increase awareness of the service among householders

Work with WRAP to develop a ‘recycle logo’ to be printed on all direct mail

Work with WRAP, the paper mills and adhesive manufacturers to minimise the use of materials that may contaminate the recycling process

Work with local authorities to develop appropriate messages about recycling direct mail and other promotional material

Now all taken up by DMA initiative  PAS 2020

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Royal Mail, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

Landfill – Newspapers, magazines and direct mail and the paper sector

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Paper has been identified as a material where reduced waste and greater recycling can yield significant environmental benefits.

The Government has already concluded voluntary producer responsibility agreements to promote, in particular, increased recycling of newspapers, magazines and direct mail with the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA), the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) respectively.

These three waste streams are estimated to amount to about 3.6 million tonnes (which would equate to about 14% of total household waste).

Direct marketing material estimated to account for approximately 550,000 tonnes of the household waste stream. Of this, 181,500 tonnes is estimated to be addressed direct mail with the remaining 368,500 tonnes being unaddressed direct marketing material.

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, Catalogues, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

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