greenPost Customer Guide

Contents

1. Overview.............................................................................................................................................. 3 2. Service requirements........................................................................................................................4 3. greenPost specification.................................................................................................................... 5 3.1 Sourcing and recyclability.............................................................................................................................................. 5 3.2 Data........................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 3.3 Opt-0ut....................................................................................................................................................................................6 3.4 Mailing specification..........................................................................................................................................................6 4. Un-routables, under-volume bags/trays and non-compliant mailings.................................... 7 5. Presentation of greenPost mailings. .............................................................................................. 8 5.1 Seeding Mail Items.............................................................................................................................................................8 6. FAQs.....................................................................................................................................................9

1.0 Overview

Climate change presents a serious challenge for responsible business leaders in the 21st century. As a result it is partially up to responsible organisations to take a stand and make a difference in how they manage their operations, manufacture and deliver their products and services. To help you act responsibly, we offer greenPost, which will help you produce environmentally friendly direct mail items. You will also save money on your postage! (In addition to the conditions and specification set out in the Premier customer guide the following additional requirements apply to all greenPost mailings.)

There are two levels you can qualify for – entry and intermediate levels. You will need to fully satisfy the greenPost specification in the following four areas (see section 3 for more details):

• Sourcing and recyclability. • Data. • Opting out. • Mail item specification.

greenPost Customer Guide / April 2015 / V2

2.0 Service requirements

Eligible items would be limited to addressed direct mail items, comprising a largely uniform message with the objective of increasing sales, use of products or services or to encourage the support of a cause. greenPost can be used in conjunction with any of the Premier services (please refer to the Premier customer guide) and must only comprise of a letter or large letter format. Each greenPost posting on any day should comprise of a minimum of 4,000 mailing items that qualify as greenPost.

greenPost Customer Guide / April 2015 / V2

3.0 greenPost specification

• The greenPost item must have less than 90% ink coverage and the following are prohibited: - polywrap envelopes - brown paper

The following eco-friendly characteristics are mandatory and must be met to qualify for the greenPost service. You will be asked to complete a greenPost checklist with your Account Manager to ensure you meet all the requirements. 3.1 Sourcing and recyclability 3.1.1 Entry level To qualify for the entry level, you must adhere to the following specification: • All paper (envelopes and contents) must contain recycled fibre from recovered waste paper and/or virgin fibre sourced from a forest certification scheme approved by Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement (CPET). and • Be produced using non-chlorinating bleaching methods, specifically, Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF), Processed Chlorine Free (PCF) and Total Chlorine Free (TCF) including oxidizing and reductive bleaching. and • All paper elements of greenPost including window and padded envelopes must be recyclable • All greenPost mailings must contain clear and visable promotion of recycling messages and/or information on how to recycle the mailing item on the envelope. and • All paper products used by the customer in the production of the mailing items must be sourced from paper mills that operate an environmental management system which accord with the standards of BS EN ISO 14001 and/or Eco- Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). • Printers, mailing houses or in-house mailing facilities used to produce a mailing item must have a documented commitment to environmental management and a baseline for environmental performance which identifies and ensures compliance with environmental legislation and develops environmental objectives, targets and programmes.

- brown envelopes - laminate finishes

3.1.2 Intermediate level – characteristics in addition to entry level • All printers and mailing houses or in-house mailing facilities used to produce greenPost must maintain environmental management systems which accord with the standards of BS EN ISO 14001 and the following are prohibited:

- ultraviolet varnish finishes - rubber based adhesives 3.2 Data 3.2.1 Entry level

• A documented procedure must be in place to suppress customer and prospect data against the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) including MPS deceased. Each address list for the customer’s uniform messages must be run against these files 30 days or less before the mailing item that uses the data is delivered to the recipient. • An internal suppression file must be kept and maintained to ensure opt-outs are properly logged. Each campaign must be run against these files 30 days or less before the posting is prepared. • 3.2.2 Intermediate level – characteristics in addition to entry level • One or more commercially available and up to date deceased and goneaway files and commercially available business goneaway files, must be run against each campaign 30 days or less before the mailing item that uses the data is delivered to the recipient. • Mailing items returned as goneaways from previous mailings and opt-outs returned to you from previous mailings must be removed from future mailing lists within 3 months of receipt.

greenPost Customer Guide / April 2015 / V2

3.3 Opt-out 3.3.1 Intermediate level only • Each mailing item must clearly incorporate information as to how the addressee can register to unsubscribe preference options relating to any or all of the sender’s legal entity brands and/or products for a period of one year.

3.4 Mailing Specification 3.4.1 Entry level

• The greenPost item must be a letter or large letter. • You must ensure that at least 90% of mailing items are fully and accurately addressed and postcoded in accordance with the Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF®). 3.4.2 Intermediate level – characteristics in addition to entry level • You must also ensure that at least 95% of mailing items are fully and accurately addressed and postcoded in accordance with the Royal Mail

Postcode Address File (PAF®). • Presentation in trays or bags.

greenPost Customer Guide / April 2015 / V2

4.0 Un-routables, under-volume bags/trays and non-compliant mailings

Any unroutable, under-volume or non-compliant mailings as defined in the Premier customer guide and agreement that is posted under the greenPost service will not be entitled to service discounts (if applicable) even if the greenPost responsible specification has been met. Conditions and charges for unroutable, under-volume and non-compliant mailings are detailed in the Premier customer guide and Premier contract.

greenPost Customer Guide / April 2015 / V2

5.0 Presentation of greenPost mailings

5.1 Seeding Mail Items For each greenPost mailing the customer must provide Royal Mail and Whistl with a sample/seed to verify conformance to the greenPost specification. The sample/seed must be an exact reproduction of the mailing items posted of both envelopes used and contents enclosed. RMW (followed by the customer’s 5 digit customer ID) PO Box 72662 London E1W 9LD Royal Mail will check samples and seed items to ensure conformance to the greenPost specification. As part of Royal Mail’s ongoing audit requirements customers will be required, on request, to notify Royal Mail of the identity of their originating customers submitting samples/seeds and the relevant unique customer ID where a unique customer ID has been used. The samples/seeds must be sent to the following address:

In addition to the presentation requirements set out in the Premier customer guide, the following presentation requirements apply to all greenPost mailings: • For items to qualify for greenPost at the intermediate level, mail items can be presented in bags as well as trays. • Each bag or tray used to hand over mailing items to Whistl must only contain greenPost mailing items. Mailing items that do not meet the greenPost criteria may not be mixed with greenPost mail in the same bag or tray. • Each bag or tray containing greenPost must be correctly labelled using labels which clearly indicate that the contents are greenPost mailing items. • For greenPost at the entry level the bag label must indicate “Resp E” in the appropriate area as shown in the example below.

• For greenPost intermediate level mailings the tray label must indicate “Resp I” in the appropriate area.

greenPost Customer Guide / April 2015 / V2

FAQs

Why does the specification allow virgin fibre paper? Surely it’s less environmentally friendly than recycled paper? Experts recognise that virgin fibre paper can be an environmentally friendly option, if derived from a sustainably managed source: it contributes to a reduction in carbon in the atmosphere while growing and can be readily replenished. It is also the case that there are limited amounts of recycled paper; virgin fibre paper is an acceptable alternative. What is required to prove that paper is virgin or recycled fibre content and is sourced from a forest certification scheme approved by the Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement (CPET)? A Certificate of conformance for the chain of custody from your supply chain (e.g. paper wholesaler or paper mill). What is required to prove adherence to BS EN ISO 14001 Environmental Management System? An up to date certificate of conformance from the British Standards Institute’s (BSI) qualification procedure. Is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) accreditation equivalent to the BS EN ISO 14001 requirement for Intermediate level? No – FSC accreditation and the BS EN 14001 Environmental Management System are not the same thing. The FSC chain of custody for an organisation requires it to trace the entire supply chain right back to the raw material. It is up to the business to ensure that all of its suppliers in the chain also meet FSC standards. This is a specific accreditation relating to wood/paper procurement and forestry management. The requirement for greenPost Intermediate Level is specifically for BS EN ISO 14001.

Why is greenPost only for Direct Mail?

Whistl are attempting to support the market for mail that is ‘optional’ (rather than, say, an obligatory statement or invoice) by incentivising sending customers to post direct mail that is responsibly produced and based on up to date, accurate mailing lists (accurate mailing lists are known to be less of an issue when sending, for example, statements or invoices to existing customers). We believe that direct mail in particular should aim to minimise its impact on the environment and so have made available an appropriate service option. Benefits to the Customer and to the Environment Customers improve the targeting of their mailings by effective use of data management. This ensures that mail is sent to up to date and relevant address lists to avoid wasted mail in the instance of, for example, gone-aways and deceased records and ensuring mail only goes to those more likely to respond, again minimising waste. Customers use materials that have been produced using processes and resources that are less harmful to the environment and are recyclable. Why are brown envelopes and paper not included within the specification? Experts believe that materials used in the production of brown paper cannot be recycled as effectively as those used for other types of paper.

Why doesn’t the specification include packets?

Generally, packet formats are not synonymous with Direct Mail. Packets are used typically for a fulfilment application.

greenPost Customer Guide / April 2015 / V2

Are there any plans to allow bio-degradable polywrap in the future?

What is BS EN ISO 14001?

The BS EN ISO 14001 Environmental Management System relates to the internal processes and systems within an organisation and the impacts they have on the environment. It examines a number of different aspects and the consequential environmental impacts, and develops a system of continual environmental improvement. The requirement for greenPost Intermediate Level is specifically for BS EN ISO 14001 Is FSC accreditation approved by CPET and therefore meet the requirement for greenPost Entry Level? FSC is one of five certification schemes approved by CPET. These are: • Canadian Standards Association (CSA) • Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) • Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) • Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) • Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Accreditation from any one of these schemes will therefore satisfy the CPET requirement for greenPost Entry Level.

Currently the greenPost specification excludes the use of all forms of polywrap. However, the environmental landscape is evolving, and our plans will change to reflect this, although it is important to bear in mind that the overall emphasis is on recycability, not bio-degradability.

greenPost Customer Guide / April 2015 / V2

Whistl Ltd Meridian House Fieldhouse Lane Marlow Buckinghamshire SL7 1TB

Tel 01628 861503 Email moreinfo@whistl.co.uk

www.whistl.co.uk

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