French homes receive 28kg of paper ads per year
The average household in France receives more than two kilos of publicity material posted through their letterbox per month, yet only one in five has used a government 鈥渟top adverts鈥� service that could help.
A study by consumer group UFC-Que-Choisir has found that the average amount of publicity posted through letterboxes is 2.3kg per month - almost 28kg per year.
This represents a rise of 15% in the last 14 years, .
Retired man, Pierre Grandperin, found a similar amount, after one year of keeping every piece of publicity material he had received, the amount had reached a weight of 28.4kg. This was primarily made up of supermarket advertising, he said.
Alain Bazot, president of UFC-Que-Choisir, explained that as well as causing excess waste paper, publicity is also paid for by the consumer, with the cost then reflected in the price of goods.
Mr Bazot said: 鈥淚f you said to the average person, 鈥榃ould you like your 鈧�200 to go towards adverts in your letterbox?鈥�, I am practically certain that people would say no.鈥�
Yet, despite the growing levels of adverts through letterboxes, just one in five people in France has used the .
The - created by the Minist猫re de la Transition Ecologique et Solidaire in 2004 in a bid to reduce paper waste - simply encourages residents to place an official 鈥淪top Pub鈥� notice on their postbox or door to alert senders that they do not wish to receive excess paper publicity (below).
The scheme鈥檚 own website explains that 89% of these adverts are printed paper, 5% commercial catalogues, 4% local media, and 2% free advertorial newspapers.
The official signs say 鈥測es to local information鈥�, but 鈥渘o to adverts and advertorial papers鈥�, and can be downloaded directly from the government website, to be printed and stuck onto letterboxes.
