Certainly it's good news that Westminster City Council have at last been able to announce the results of their protracted negotiations with the free newspaper publishers this week. As Westminster have been bearing the brunt of the freesheet war over the past 12 months it is only sensible that pilot projects are tested out in the borough which has to deal with 4 tonnes of newspaper every day. However a few questions spring to mind...
Are these measures alone going to solve the problem of diverting free newspapers from going to landfill?
What measures will be put in place to deal with the excessive number of free papers to be found on the buses, the tube network and the regional trains services?
How are we going to stop the culture of abandoning waste on the transport infrastructure which is so costly and bad for the environment?
On September 12th Project Freesheet is going to take to the streets once more to assess the impact of the new bins being sponsored by Associated Newspapers and News International. We will gather data which will give an accurate account of how much paper is ending up in the aforementioned recycling bins compared to what is ending up in the waste bins or on the street. If you would like to join us please email via the website for more details
As the gentle ripple of approval throughout the media continues let us see how many more boroughs and transport networks follow Westminster's lead in succeeding to get the free newspaper publishers to clean up their own mess.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Thin end of the wedge
A new free weekly magazine is soon to appear on the streets of London from French Connection founder Stephen Marks and film director Matthew Vaughn. Codenamed Alpha One, the title will be the first general-interest weekly given away free to men.
The magazine is the brainchild of former IPC editorial director Mike Soutar… Mr Soutar said half a million copies of the title would be distributed by hand on a Thursday at key commuter points across the country, including London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and west Yorkshire.
Mr Soutar added: ”For consumers under the age of 45 the power of free media is extraordinary. Survey after survey shows younger consumers value free media as much as paid for and expect the same quality both online and in print. Alpha One, the title will be the first general-interest weekly given away free to men, who are shunning monthly magazines such as GQ and Esquire."
As the competition between 'paid-for' and free publications increases, I don't think anyone can be in denial about the increasing problem being faced by the local authorities due to the ever increasing amount of free literature now being handed out on our streets. 30% of the European newspaper market is now free - that's nearly 27 million publications being handed out on a daily basis.
I was at the London Recycling Officers Group (LROG) meeting held at City Hall, London, yesterday (chaired by Beverley Simonson, Waste minimisation and recycling officer for Ealing Council), where recycling officers from boroughs all over London gather to share knowledge and update each other on all aspects of recycling management. I gave a presentation which seemed to go down well, and was pleased that some offered to help out with the next round of volunteer recruitment for our upcoming walkabout (date + details soon to be announced).
One interesting discussion early on in the meeting was with Shameem Shah (from the DEFRA Waste Strategy Review Team) who was questioned about who was supposed to pay for the increasing amount of commercial waste that the authorities are having to look after, at the expense of the tax payer. Yet again we are seeing the private sector making savings at the tax payers expense. Legislation does not exist to negotiate this problem.
Lets hope the Government through our efforts can be influenced to look at producer responsibility as the primary way in which to take the burden off the tax payer. It simply isn't right that tax payers are subsidising the private sector in this manner.
The magazine is the brainchild of former IPC editorial director Mike Soutar… Mr Soutar said half a million copies of the title would be distributed by hand on a Thursday at key commuter points across the country, including London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and west Yorkshire.
Mr Soutar added: ”For consumers under the age of 45 the power of free media is extraordinary. Survey after survey shows younger consumers value free media as much as paid for and expect the same quality both online and in print. Alpha One, the title will be the first general-interest weekly given away free to men, who are shunning monthly magazines such as GQ and Esquire."
As the competition between 'paid-for' and free publications increases, I don't think anyone can be in denial about the increasing problem being faced by the local authorities due to the ever increasing amount of free literature now being handed out on our streets. 30% of the European newspaper market is now free - that's nearly 27 million publications being handed out on a daily basis.
I was at the London Recycling Officers Group (LROG) meeting held at City Hall, London, yesterday (chaired by Beverley Simonson, Waste minimisation and recycling officer for Ealing Council), where recycling officers from boroughs all over London gather to share knowledge and update each other on all aspects of recycling management. I gave a presentation which seemed to go down well, and was pleased that some offered to help out with the next round of volunteer recruitment for our upcoming walkabout (date + details soon to be announced).
One interesting discussion early on in the meeting was with Shameem Shah (from the DEFRA Waste Strategy Review Team) who was questioned about who was supposed to pay for the increasing amount of commercial waste that the authorities are having to look after, at the expense of the tax payer. Yet again we are seeing the private sector making savings at the tax payers expense. Legislation does not exist to negotiate this problem.
Lets hope the Government through our efforts can be influenced to look at producer responsibility as the primary way in which to take the burden off the tax payer. It simply isn't right that tax payers are subsidising the private sector in this manner.
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