Against this backdrop - which also found that 70pc of survey participants are using some form of external suppression - today's survey findings provide the Suppression Working Party with the information required to bring about measurable change within the industry - increasing the use of suppression to reduce unwanted and poorly targeted mailings.

To kick-off the DMA's 2005 campaign to boost suppression adoption, the DMA is writing to the UK's top 50 mailers asking them to pledge their support by signing the DMA's Environmental Charter and will be launching stage three of its environmental initiative at the IDMF next year.

In addition, a member mailing pack will also be distributed in December with reports from both the industry and consumer research and the Suppression Guidelines produced by the Working Party. David Robottom, DMA Director of Postal Affairs and Industry Development commented, "In January 2006 the DMA has to report back to the Government on whether or not the industry has met the first set of targets set out in its Producer Responsibility Scheme. The results of this survey provide the DMA with a clear indication of what still needs to be achieved to improve the standard of UK direct mail and gives us a benchmark which we can use to assess industry performance and report back to the industry on the progress that has been made."

For further information please contact:

Liz Bastone
DMA PR Manager
Tel: 020 7291 3315
Email: liz@dma.org.uk