June 19, 2008 — Support of the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) “Recycle Please” campaign continues to intensify, as Pitney Bowes Inc., a leading provider of mailstream solutions, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), one of the world’s largest museums, recently announced their participation in the nationwide campaign.  Pitney Bowes’ decision to add the “Recycle Please” logo on all of its public literature, catalogs and direct mailings, and across all lines of its business, takes effect immediately, while the MMA intends to begin displaying the “Recycle Please” logo on printed pieces starting with its fall holiday catalog.

Developed by DMA with the assistance of the Association’s member-driven Committee on Environmental and Social Responsibility (CESR), “Recycle Please” is a nationwide public education campaign that asks Association members to prominently display the “Recycle Please” logo on their catalogs and direct mail pieces for the purpose of encouraging consumers to recycle them after reading them.  By participating in the campaign, Pitney Bowes and the MMA join more than 80 companies and nonprofit organizations that are now using the logo.

“Through our ‘Recycle Please’ campaign, DMA will increase public awareness that glossy, colored catalogs and direct mail pieces are indeed recyclable, just like newspapers,” said Pat Kachura, DMA’s senior vice president of corporate responsibility.  “We are delighted that leading B-to-C marketers — and now B-to-B and nonprofit organizations — are using the ‘Recycle Please’ logo on all of their direct mail pieces.  Collectively, these participating organizations showcase the power of direct, spreading the message and stimulating paper recycling and recovery across the nation.”

A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study on “Mail-Related Recycling Initiatives and Possible Opportunities for Improvement” (GAO-08-599) highlighted DMA’s “Recycle Please” program, as well as its “Green 15,” Mail Preference Service (MPS)/DMAChoice.org, and Commitment to Consumer Choice (CCC), as key initiatives to improve the environmental footprint of advertising mail.

Over 60 percent of the American population has access in their community to recycling for magazines, catalogs, and direct mail through curbside pickup, drop-off centers, or both.  However, only about 39 percent of catalogs and direct mail are actually recycled from the home.  Public awareness needs to be raised about the recyclability of catalogs and direct mail, especially given that recovery rates for these paper grades lag far behind those of old newspaper and cardboard.

“Pitney Bowes’ participation with DMA’s ‘Recycle Please’ campaign is one example of the company’s efforts to promote the sustainability of mail and encourage mail recipients to participate in environmental stewardship and recycling,” said Paul Robbertz, vice president, environment health & safety, Pitney Bowes Inc.  “Although mail’s environmental impact is low in comparison with many everyday human activities, increased recycling and recovery of mail delivers a valuable resource for future paper and cardboard products and reduces the amount of new fiber obtained from wood, resulting in fewer trees being harvested.”

Some DMA member companies and nonprofit organizations supporting the “Recycle Please” campaign include:

For more information, or to participate in DMA’s “Recycle Please” campaign, please visit www.recycleplease.org or email environment@the-dma.org.

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