BOOST THE CREDIBILITY OF YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL CLAIMS...
It is estimated that around 4.3 billion items of direct mail are sent out every year using around 550,000 tonnes of paper. In 2003 an estimated 87 per cent of the items sent out annually were ending up in landfill. Although direct marketing contributes around only 2% of the UK’s waste mountain, the UK Government recognizes that the current model of environmental, social and economic development is unsustainable and that a decisive move towards more sustainable development is in the long-term interests of everyone. Industry in general is being driven towards taking a responsible approach to how it conducts its business activities. The direct marketing (DM) industry is no exception. It is under pressure to ensure it develops a more sustainable business model that addresses the concerns of the government, consumers and the industry itself.
In 2003, representing the interests of the direct marketing industry, the Direct Marketing Association and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (or Defra) agreed strict 10-year targets for reducing waste from the direct marketing sector. The targets were that by the end of 2005, 30 per cent of all waste direct mail was to be recycled. This was narrowly missed. This target rose to 55 per cent by the end of 2009 and rises again to 70 per cent by the end of 2013.
To add further to the pressure on direct marketers, 2010 sees the EU Landfill Directive come into force. Currently, the UK disposes of 11.55 million tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste in landfill sites. The EU Landfill Directive requires this figure to be reduced to 11.2m tonnes by 2010, 7.5 million tonnes by 2013 and 5.2 million tonnes by the year 2020. Missing these targets could result in millions of pounds of punitive fines by the EU. So there are some strong drivers for the direct marketing industry to take a more responsible and sustainable approach to its activities when it comes to the environment.
PAS 2020:2009 Direct Marketing – Environmental Performance was developed to help the industry respond to these pressure. The specification focuses on establishing a set of environmental objectives, performance levels and indicators for different environmental aspects of a direct marketing campaign. The indicators provide an indirect measure of a direct marketing campaign’s environmental impact.
Campaign Objectives:
| Aspect |
|
Objective |
|
No. |
Description |
| Targeting |
1 |
Target customers and prospects to whom the campaign is relevant and that are likely to respond |
| Suppression |
2 |
Apply customer and prospect data suppression and maintain data quality |
| Recyclability |
3 |
Design DM communications for recyclability |
| Paper products |
4 |
Effectively manage the procurement and use of paper products to improve environmental performance |
| Ink and finishes |
5 |
Make efficient use of ink and finishes |
| Printing |
6 |
Use organisations that manage the environmental impacts of producing printed DM communication |
| Mailing Houses |
7 |
Use mailing houses that manage their environmental impacts |
| Distribution Services |
8 |
Use organisations that manage the environmental impacts of distributing DM communications |
| Field marketing |
9 |
Use field marketers that manage their environmental impacts |
| Unsubscribe |
10 |
Promote the use of an unsubscribe facility |
Who is PAS 2020:2009 applicable to?
The PAS sets out requirements relating to both organisations with overall responsibility for direct marketing campaigns and relating to suppliers of activities relating to the provision of a DM campaigns such as DM agencies, printers, mail houses, distribution service providers and field marketers. Some or all requirements of the PAS will apply to these types of organisations.
Next steps
Using PAS 2020 Direct Marketing to help you improve the sustainability of your direct marketing activities will give you the following benefits:
- Greater consistency and improvement in ways of working
- Improved operational efficiency
- Improved environmental performance of campaigns as a result of better supplier management
- Improved campaigns through better planning
- Better prepared for legislation by improving the environmental performance of your campaigns
- Protection of reputation through better targeting
Next steps
BSI does not run training courses relating to PAS 2020 Direct Marketing specifically. However, the PAS is based on the requirements of a quality management system such as ISO 9001 and environmental management systems as defined by ISO 14001 for which we run a number of courses. For more information on these courses, please see our Training Course pages.
Next steps
Any organisation can claim that they comply with the requirements of a standard. However, self declaring compliance will not satisfy all your stakeholders.
PAS 2020 Direct Marketing has been written such that it can be audited and certified against. Whether you are a campaign owner, organiser or a supplier of a Direct Marketing activity, your system for managing your activities can be independently assessed by an experienced and competent body such as BSI - the first certification bodies to offer assessment and certification services to PAS 2020 Direct Marketing.
The Assessment Process
There are two different approaches to the assessment based on your level of involvement in campaign management and the activities undertaken.
Approach 1 – Campaign management certification
This approach applies to clients with overall responsibility for a campaign and suppliers conducting all activities of a campaign or conducting some and subcontracting other activities which in total cover the whole campaign. Audits for these organisations will include an assessment in two stages of all the requirements of PAS 2020:2009 Direct Marketing. The objective of the assessment is to establish whether your system complies with the requirements of the standard and more importantly whether your system is effective in delivering campaigns or DM activities that meet the objectives defined in the PAS.
The initial assessment is conducted on site, in two stages:
Stage 1 of the assessment will concentrate on a review of the documented processes and procedures and assessing the system for compliance to the requirements of the PAS. Stage 2 of the assessment will focus on assessing the implementation of your campaign management system.
Approach 2 – Direct Marketing Supplier
This approach applies to suppliers of one or more activities of direct marketing campaigns, eg. printing, distribution services, field marketing, mailing houses. Audits for these organisations will include a single assessment of only those requirements of PAS 2020:2009 Direct Marketing that relate to the activities undertaken by the organisation. So for example, a distribution services organisation may only be assessed to the requirements of Objective 8.
Assuming no major issues are raised, the assessor will make a recommendation for certification and a certificate of registration to PAS 2020 Direct Marketing will be issued following an internal independent review and approval process.
The relationship does not stop there. We will carry out a programme of continuing assessment visits – typically two visits a year – to ensure that you continue to implement your campaign management system and that it continues to be effective and meet the requirements of the PAS.
We also offer an optional Pre-Certification Audit - typically lasting one day - the objective of which is to ascertain the progress you are making in defining and implementing your campaign management system and to ensure that the basic requirements of the campaign management system are in place and that there are no glaring omissions before the initial assessment takes place.
For an informal discussion on which approach would be best suited to your circumstances, please Get inTouch
The benefits of certification to PAS 2020 Direct Marketing
Certification to PAS 2020 Direct Marketing has a number of benefits:
- Independent assurance of compliance
- Added integrity to any claims of compliance made
- Differentiator leading to competitive advantage
- Makes responding to tenders easier
- Improved reputation
- Fresh set of eyes on your systems
- Sharing best practice
- Added focus on continual improvement
Why Choose BSI?
- BSI is a world leader in Standards, Assessment, Certification and Verification
- We have a worldwide network of assessors with management systems assessment experience at your disposal
- Our ability to undertake complex, multi-national, multisite, process-based assessment work is second to none
- BSI has been involved in the writing and piloting of this Publicly Available Specification with the direct marketing industry
- BSI has the capability, specific strengths and knowledge to assess the environmental performance of your campaigns
- By choosing BSI, certified organizations will be able to use and benefit from BSI’s logo, which holds UK Superbrand status
Next steps
