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ALMOST 2000 tonnes of junk mail is being delivered to homes in Brisbane each month, a Courier-Mail investigation has revealed. In November the typical letterbox was stuffed with more than 170 flyers, leaflets and brochures – together weighing more than 5kg. Major retailers IGA and Target posted the most junk mail, followed by Crazy Clarks, The Warehouse, Big W and Dominos Pizzas. Queensland Greens yesterday described the junk mail explosion as "appalling" and claimed retailers were sacrificing the environment to boost Christmas sales. The party's state co-ordinator Ian Gittus said: "Although some people will ensure their junk mail is recycled, a large percentage of it will be unread and put straight into rubbish bins. It's a ridiculous waste." There are around 375,000 private homes in the Brisbane City Council district. If each received the 5.1kg of catalogues and leaflets recorded by The Courier-Mail, the weight of the city's monthly junk mail would be 1912.5 tonnes – the same as a World War II naval destroyer and enough to fill more than 200 council garbage trucks. The Australian Consumer Council acknowledged many householders find junk mail "irritating" but said it was simple to stop by putting up a "No junk mail" sign. Chris Lee-Brown, chief executive of the Australian Catalogue Association, said the industry was self-regulated and insisted its 60,000 walkers were instructed to obey no junk mail signs. "Our research suggests that people do spend a lot of time going through their catalogues," he said. "If people don't want to receive advertising material they won't get it if they put up a sign." He said the paper used in most catalogues was imported from sustainable plantations in Scandinavia and said almost three-quarters was recycled by householders. A spokeswoman for Woolworths said junk mail was a legitimate and effective marketing ploy. "Our catalogue distributor is required by law not to deliver catalogues to letterboxes displaying no junk mail signs and we work with them to see that delivery workers follow the legislation," she said. An IGA spokesman said more people complained to the company about not receiving promotional material than those who were annoyed by it. "Our research shows more than 80 per cent of customers enjoy receiving our material," he said. Australia Post said it delivers less than 10 per cent of the 7 billion articles of unaddressed junk mail produced each year, although it does deliver a large share of the 650 million articles of addressed promotional mail. A spokeswoman said addressed material could be stopped by contacting the Australian Direct Marketing Association and asking to join its "Do not mail" list. A spokeswoman for Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications, said: "The Government is working with industry to create an enforceable complaints procedure for people who are tired of receiving junk mail. "Already, large numbers of households display No Junk Mail or No Advertising Material signs on their letterboxes."
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