"Oui Pub" trial launched to tackle junk mail

AT least once a week your letterbox is likely to groan a pile of brochures and flyers offering cut price deals, a chance to sell gold bracelets or tackle the damp in your house.

Whether you want to receive all this paper is never questioned, but now a trial has been launched giving 2.5 million homeowners across France a choice.

The "Oui Pub" pilot study is giving people the option to display a small sticker on their letterbox saying they want to receive promotional material.

And those letterboxes that do not have a sticker will no longer receive the brochures and flyers.

Map of "Oui Pub" trial

The test will run from 1 September 2022 until 2025 in 14 areas across France, including ville de Bordeaux, agglomération d'Agen and Grenoble Alpes Métropole.

Homeowners were provided with the stickers earlier this year and it was explained how the scheme would work, with unaddressed mail banned from letterboxes that do not display the "Oui Pub" stickers.

Amount of junk mail in France

Figures from 2019 show that 894,000 tonnes of printed publicity materials are stuffed through letterboxes in France, and it is something that concerns the public.

A total ban was proposed by a citizen's collective, but it is hoped the "Oui Pub" trial will strike a balance, reducing the amount of waste paper thrown away and hopefully cut the cost of dealing with the rubbish.