Communication outsourcing specialist FST Technologies has revealed plans to calculate the carbon footprint of firms' direct mail

Firms could soon be offered detailed information on the carbon footprint of any mail they send, both electronic and by post, as the result of work to be undertaken by the Carbon Trust and communications services specialist FST Technologies.

FST Technologies, which runs customer communication activities such as marketing campaigns and billing processes for its customers, has revealed it is to work with the Carbon Trust to measure the carbon impact of various forms of customer communication, including emails, SMS texts and direct mail.

"It is early days, but we contacted the Carbon Trust in November and are now keen to start working on a way of developing a carbon score for different components of the communication process, such as a single document, a mail pack, and the emissions from transport and delivery," said FST Technologies sales and marketing director David Ireland.

The company plans to use the data to compare the carbon footprint of its campaigns with those of campaigns run by firms in-house and help them develop the most environmentally-friendly mix of direct and electronic mail to reach customers.

Ireland predicted that the economies of scale enjoyed by FST Technologies meant that its campaigns should have a lower footprint than those run by banks and other companies in-house. "The scale we get from repeating the process for lots of different customers means we can run more shifts with the same assets, making them more efficient," he said, adding that the data should also strengthen the case for customers to make greater use of electronic communication.