Archive for the ‘Recycling paper’ Category

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20gms of CO2 are generated by a piece of direct mail

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

‘Junk’ Mail aka Direct Mail

There is a more effective way of dealing with these items, put them back in the letter box marked RETURN TO SENDER. For 16 years we, (www.veri-data.co.uk ) have been processing returned and undelivered mail for financial services and others. For each company we open and scan the relevant information required and return it to them on a weekly basis so that they can supress their databases, so they do not mail that person/address again.

We then recycle all the waste paper, for 80% of the carbon footprint of a direct mail piece is in the end of life solution. Our service also helps to reduce the opportunity for identity fraud and protects the brand image by not ‘irritating’ people by sending them material they do not want. Sadly not all mailers use a service like ours and in many large companies and charities there is a reluctance to engage with this matter. Nobody wants responsibility for what is perceived as irksome problem, notwithstanding it can save them money and cut their carbon footprint. (20gms of CO2 are generated by a piece of direct mail)

Like it or not Direct Mail works and a great many people are stimulated to buy, even if it only drives them to a web site. I also wonder how many people who complain about this issue would actually miss it.  For as Auden noted, ‘And none will hear the postman’s knock Without a quickening of the heart. For who can bear to feel himself forgot.’ or am I the only one who feels slightly miffed when the postman passes by and there is no mail?

NB Companies that dropped direct mail in 2009 are going back because they saw a drop in orders of up to 25% Wall Street Journal article 2011

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Catalogues, Charities, Direct Mail, Identity Fraud, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Sustainable Mail, Totalpost PLC | No Comments »

Fraud risk from direct mail – ‘gone away’ mail

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Recyclers Face Junk Mail Fraud Risk

140,000 householders fall victim to identity fraud each year

Do you just put your junk mail into the recycling without even opening it or shredding it? Then you are among the 80% of the population who are putting themselves at risk of identity theft.

Every year we are bombarded by a staggering 15 billion pieces of junk mail, equal to 626 unsolicited letters per British household, but the consequences are more than just to the environment.

Those of us who admit to recycling our junk mail without even taking it out of the envelope are putting ourselves at high risk of fraud. All an opportunistic thief needs to cash in on our identities is a name and address.

Over a lifetime we will each throw 49,000 letters away unread – effectively giving fraudsters 49,000 opportunities to steal our identities, according to a shocking poll by CPP.

A staggering 140,000 householders fall victim to identity fraud every year and 13% of us are caught out due to stolen mail.

But the statistics reveal we are most at risk when moving house. 16% of us fail to tell people when we move, with a quarter of us getting so wrapped up in the trials and tribulations of changing homes we forget to tell banks, utility companies and the DVLA for at least 2 weeks.

Four out of 10 movers won’t bother to inform catalogue companies when they change address and 8% forget to tell their local council, risking personal information being sent to the wrong door. With the average person now moving 16 times in their lives most of us are leaving a clear paper trail for thieves to follow.

But despite previous address fraud being the most common method of identity theft, accounting for 42% of cases, almost a third of us naively rely on the new occupants of our old homes to forward our mail on to us. But shockingly less than half of new owners bother to send on any correspondence at all.

A spokesman from CPP said: “The results from this survey are terrifying – people don’t realise that by dropping 49,000 letters in the bin, they are effectively giving fraudsters 49,000 opportunities to steal their identity.”

Published by: http://www.reducereuserecycle.co.uk/greenarticles/recyclers_face_junk_mail_fraud_risk.php

Reduce Reuse Recycle
- Your Green Guide

Reduce Reuse Recycle
- Your Green Guide

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, Identity Fraud, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail | No Comments »

Royal Mail could put up postage on direct mail by up to 19%

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

This is not good news as the non-transactional direct mail sector is already struggling and it will probably mean that the private courier sector will follow suite and hike their prices. However there are ways to reduce the costs of direct mail.

We include catalogues in this context.

Most direct marketers would agree that embracing best environmental practice is a sensible idea. There are rewards for doing so but whether you agree that PAS2020 an onerous standard or a good discipline, the potential for reduced costs, reduced waste and increased campaign performance makes good business sense.

There also the benefit of Royal Mail’s ‘Sustainable Mail’, which offers postal services at a discounted rate if a company is proved to be compliant with PAS 2020. This can save mailers up to 4.7 percent off the standard mail tariff.

As a company dedicated to processing returned and gone way mail since 1996 we have to declare an interest in hoping that volumes of direct mail do not decline too quickly. In our part we have reduced the returns/’gone aways’ of one our larger customers (at their peak mailing 140 million pieces a year) from over 6% to under 2% saving them thousands of pounds.

Our aim is to minimise waste and thereby cut cost, by removing unnecessary volume, and by ensuring the ‘end of life’ solution where 80% of the carbon footprint occurs is addressed responsibly. We recycle all waste paper. It can also provide brand protection and reduce the opportunity for fraud – overlaying information from returns can identify hot spots/addresses and help to mitigate identity theft.

Taking care of your returns also offers a safety net from consumer backlash, because despite the economic times, consumers and the media are still being tough on brands that do business while ignoring the environmental impact.

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, Catalogues, Charities, DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Royal Mail, Sustainable Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

Gone Away & Returned Mail – Cutting the Costs

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Gone away & returned mail processing service you can now cut costs dramatically by using CodEffect (2d barcode) a data capture system designed initially specifically for returned or gone-away letters.

It was originally designed to capture name and address information and to reduce the capture cost.  It includes full name and address information but its range has been expanded to include streamlining back office functions.

For example, including updating customer databases, validating the postal addresses, segmenting documents based on their commercial value and speeding up the process of collecting survey information.

Benefits

•          Reduced CRM mailing costs by 5%

•          Response rates increased by 8%

•          Data integrity enhanced

•          Helps to mitigate identity fraud

•          Achieved immediate and tangible cash savings with CodEffect

•          Reduces data collection cost

•          Enhances data base  management

•          Automates suppression process

•          Integrates mailing process with business process to improve cycle times and reduce cost

•          Minimises barcode size

For more information and power pint presentation please contact Tim Craig tim.craig@veri-data.co.uk

PS included in our service is the safe destruction and recycling of all waste paper helping to cut your carbon footprint

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Catalogues, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, Identity Fraud, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Totalpost PLC | No Comments »

CodEffect- Gone away mail management – a better solution

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

SAVE MONEY PROTECT BRAND IMAGE CUT THE RISK OF IDENTITY FRAUD

Returned  gone way  mail (catalogues) represent a waste of money.  If you have 100,000 Return mail items per annum and your average mail pack is 50p, you have wasted £50,000 which could have been put to better use in reaching customers and prospects. Conversely, if you are over-suppressing your mailings due to inaccurate Returns information, you could be losing out on revenue opportunities.

Veridata are licensed by Arbutus Ridgeto use a proprietary 2d bar-coding system CodEffect. As a company we provide a specialist, automated and quick turn around service for processing returned and undelivered mail.  As such, Royal Mail supports Veridata in the delivery of Returned and gone away mail Management solutions.

What is CodEffect?

CodEffect identifies the recipient of undelivered mail. It encapsulates a mailer ID, campaign code, customer URN or other customer related data along with the complete customer name and address information into a two dimensional (2D) barcode. All data is encoded in order to minimise the barcode’s size.

This means that large amounts of data can be securely encrypted, including data that doesn’t appear in the text of the mailing item and enables large amounts of data to be captured cheaply and accurately.

The 2D barcodes are small and discreet and printed to be visible through the window of each envelope. After a letter is returned, Veridata scans the unopened envelope and decodes the barcode to obtain the required information/name and address of the intended recipient and to identify the mailer who originated the piece. This allows Veridata to create a list of undeliverable names and addresses for the mailer.

The barcodes are printed using industry-accepted DataMatrix standards.

The principal users of CodEffect are printers of bulk mailings who are looking for a cost-effective returns handling solution and a straightforward way of integrating returns handling into their systems.

CodEffect has 2 distinct elements – simple data capture from returns and data verification/enhancement. These are 2 distinct and separate services, designed so that users can ‘buy-in’ to both services, however this is not mandatory.

As far as the “core” data capture service is concerned, the pricing model is simply based on the number of scans performed – the amount of data captured is irrelevant as the amount of work is the same. One of the key selling points of a CodEffect capture solution is a fixed charge, regardless of the amount of data captured.

It can carry a considerable amount and variety of alphanumeric data such as – amount, payee, account information, personal identification information, or customer references; however valuable marketing data could also be added giving detailed information on geographic/demographic success rates of campaigns.

For more information Call Tim Craig 0n 01925 242360

PS We recycle all waste paper/catalogues  helping the environment and you to lower your carbon footprint.

PPS Catalogues can be saved for reuse if required

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

Bringing down the cost of gone away mail

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

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

In partnership with Arbutus Ridge we process their CodEffect 2d barcode, a powerful method of encoding large amounts of data. Successfully used by many organisations including HMRC and Tesco, the latter in the first six months that they have been using it 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. There is no charge for the software or the creation of the barcode.

The CodEffect service has two distinct elements – simple data capture from returns and

data verification & enhancement. If required it can explain the reason for returns by

running them against a number of industry wide data sets.

The discreet two-dimensional barcode can be set in various places in or outside the envelope

Also included in the cost is the destruction and responsible disposal of all waste paper, which is recycled locally; this helps reduce 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

For further information please contact

Tim Craig Business Development Director

Tel:01925 242360 email: tim.craig@veri-data.co.uk

PS As part o our service we destroy and recycle all paper helping to lower your carbon footprint

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, Catalogues, Charities, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Recycling paper, Sustainable Mail, Totalpost PLC | No Comments »

TNT Post joins forces with DMA to promote green direct mail

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

LONDON – TNT Post and the Direct Marketing Association have signed a letter of understanding pledging commitment to working together to promote environmental best practice within the direct mail sector.

The letter contains a call for the responsible use of direct mail and proposes the implementation of at least two joint initiatives over the next 12 months.

TNT Post claims to have a firm track record of bringing ethical innovations to the market, including its CarbonNeutral mailing service and greenPost product, which will provide a foundation for future projects.

88% of the carbon footprint of a piece of direct mail is in the ‘end of life’ solution.

The projects will be developed by a strategy group formed of TNT Post and members of the DMA’s Mailing Houses Council, and will be aimed at businesses of all sizes.

In line with the PAS 2020 environmental standard, TNT Post and DMA will work together to deliver advice, recommendations and information to help minimise the environmental impact of direct mail.

Gillian Lyall, chair of the DMA’s Mailing Houses Council, said: “The signing of this letter of understanding indicates the DMA and TNT Post’s commitment to both the continued growth of the sector and the environment.

“It sets out a positive framework of how we, and the rest of the industry, can work together to create a more advantageous situation for all organisations operating in the sector.”

Nick Wells, chief executive of TNT Post UK, said: “As a trusted provider of postal and direct mail services and solutions to thousands of organisations large and small, TNT Post is well placed to generate interest amongst businesses and mailing houses.

“This expertise, coupled with the DMA’s market position, underpins the strength of this joint effort.” nam et ipsa scientia potestas est – For Knowledge Itself is Power

by TrueBlueTerrier » Sat Dec 19, 2009 1:31 pm http://www.brandrepublic.com/Discipline … 900409/TNT

Veridata have been committed to providing a GREEN gone away mail data capture  service for 14 years and all waste paper generated by our process  is confidentially destroyed and recycled.

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'Green Tax', 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

Every tonne of recycled paper saves approximately 17 trees and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

At Veridata as part of our service we recycle all the waste paper generated by the returns from the mail/catalogues that we process. Our service  minimizes waste and therefore cost, protects brand image, mitigates fraud and cuts carbon footprint. We process returned mail from anywhere in the UK or Europe.

With 5.4 billion items of direct mail sent out yearly direct marketers have an ideal opportunity to make a major impact because every tonne of recycled paper saves approximately 17 trees and 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. The public’s perception is important and organisations such as charities, and companies sending out large amounts of Direct Mail and/or catalogues i.e. the mail order sector should take note that consumers and the media do not like brands that do business while ignoring the environmental impact.

Adopting PAS 2020 best practices makes environmental and economic sense.  Furthermore, cost savings can be made through Royal Mail as they offer postal services at a discounted rate to companies that can prove that they are compliant with PAS 2020, this can save up to 4.7 per cent off the standard mail tariff.

Veridata  helps to meet  corporate social responsibility by processing returned, undelivered and goneway mail, which saves companies considerable amounts of  money. Additional huge savings on returned mail handling can be made by using CodEffect 2d barcode call us to find out more on 44 (0)1925 242360

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Charities, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, Identity Fraud, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail | No Comments »

Direct Mail can reduce carbon emissions

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

The percentage of waste in the UK that goes straight into landfill sites is 60% compared to just 20% in Switzerland, a good proportion of this waste is coming from business.

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

At Veridata we process returned and undelivered mail, – i.e. mail sent back with ‘RETURN TO SENDER’ often embellished with more spicy comments! Also mail that is  inaccurately addressed, mail refused and mail for which the postman deems no such address exists. All this mail, if it is one our customers, is returned to the PO Box number on the reverse of the envelope and directed by Royal mail to our premises. We open, sort, scan, and return the information to our customers. This saves them mailing to the same people again. It also provides valuable marketing information, which helps to achieve greater focus on campaign performance.

AND it saves considerable amounts of money.

Just as importantly it helps to lower their carbon footprint and meet their corporate social and environmental responsibility, for included in the cost of or service is the safe destruction and recycling of all the waste paper we process. 80% of the carbon footprint of a piece of mail is in the ‘end of life’ i.e. when it’s dumped. So if you are sending out large amounts of mail or catalogues, you should be talking to us because you too could help the planet and save money. Paper has been identified as a material where reduced waste and greater recycling can yield significant environmental benefits.

When it comes to the subject of Climate Change: If you think you are too small to make a difference try sleeping in a room with a mosquito.

Veridata returned mail handling …a Totalpost Services plc company

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'Green Tax', 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, Catalogues, DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail | No Comments »

Are Direct Mail Businesses Thinking About Green Issues Enough?

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Veridata is trying to educate the Direct Mail industry about the benefits of processing their returned and undelivered mail. For 14 years we have been processing the the returns to MBNA who enlightened and well a head of their time have been ensuring that their returns have been and are handled responsibly.

Too many companies that send out large quantities of mail/catalogues do not address this issue of corporate social producer responsibility for the ‘end of life’ solution for their undelivered and returned mail.

A contributor to CO2 waste in the UK is, Returned, unwanted and undelivered mail its produces vast amounts of waste paper and 80% of the carbon footprint for a piece of mail is in the ‘end of life’ solution. The DMA’s BSI Standard PAS2020, the Royal Mail’s Sustainable Mail, TNT’s Greenpost and the new EU directives on landfill are going some way to address the issue of ‘producer responsibility’ that all waste paper generated is disposed of acceptably.

Veridata provides a specialist and automated quick turn around service for processing Returned and Undelivered Mail.

It saves money not mailing the same customers again, helps mitigate the opportunities for identity fraud and it is friendly to the environment as all waste is recycled thus reducing carbon footprint.

See article by

Are British Businesses Thinking About Green Issues Enough?

Written by Ben Thornhill

Friday, 16 July 2010 13:27

http://www.tchc.net/blog/38-business-operations/226-are-british-businesses-thinking-enough-about-green-issues

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'Green Tax', 'gone aways', Banking, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, DMA, Direct Mail, Identity Fraud, PAS2020, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail, Sustainable Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

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