Each year in the UK 17.5 billion pieces of junk mail (550,000 tonnes) is sent out to homes. Households in Britain each receive 650 pieces a year through their door, which is 1.8 pieces of junk mail a day. Stopping junk mail being delivered to your home is easy to do and can make a big difference to the amount of waste that you produce.

Ways to help reduce the amount of junk mail you receive

There are three main ways to stop receiving junk mail.

• The Mailing Preference Service will cut the amount of direct mail you receive (i.e. mail that is addressed to you) but please be advised that it can take up to four months before you begin to see a real reduction and only reduces mail from companies registered with the Direct Marketing Association:

  Mailing Preference Service
  FREEPOST 29 LON 20771
  London
  W1E 0ZT

  Tel: 0845 703 4599

  www.mpsonline.org.uk

• Registering with the Royal Mail's Door to Door Opt Out Service will help reduce the amount of unaddressed mail and leaflets that are posted through your letterbox:

  Freepost RRBT-ZBXB-TTTS
  Door to Door Opt Out Service
  Royal Mail
  Kingsmead House
  Oxpens Road
  Oxford
  OX1 1RX

  Email: optout@royalmail.com

• Registering with Your Choice will help reduce the amount of unaddressed mail and leaflets that are posted through your letterbox. Your Choice is operated by the Direct Marketing Association, which the majority of door to door distribution companies and free papers have signed up to:

  Your Choice Preference Scheme
  Direct Marketing Association (UK) LTD
  DMA House
  70 Margaret Street
  London
  W1W 8SS

  Tel: 020 7291 3300

  Email: yourchoice@dma.org.uk

Please note that by signing up for these services you may not receive important information from organisations such as your local council.

Ways to help reduce the amount of direct mail delivered to deceased people

Each year, around 80 pieces of addressed junk mail are sent out to 583,000 people following their death. To help reduce the amount of direct mail, register with the Bereavement Register:

The Bereavement Register
FREEPOST SEA8240
Sevenoaks
TN13 1XR
Tel: 0870 600 7222

http://www.the-bereavement-register.org.uk/

What else can you do to cut down on junk mail?

• When filling in your details on forms remember to look for the tick box to stop advertising being sent to you.
• Put a sticker on your letterbox or door requesting that no unsolicited mail be delivered. These are available from you local council's Recycling Officer or by contacting the York and North Yorkshire waste partnership. 
• If you continue to receive junk mail from particular companies you can send them a letter by recorded delivery to request that they stop contacting you and advise them that any further communication from the organisation will be reported to the Information Commissioner.
• Recycle any mail you still receive. This can be done at:
  • Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) run by North Yorkshire County Council and the City of York Council - all have facilities for paper recycling.
  • The kerbside collection provided by your local council.
  • Bring bank facilities across York and North Yorkshire. These are located in places such as supermarkets, schools, community areas etc.

Find out where your nearest paper recycling service is.