Day 001 - 28 Jun 94 - Page 35
1 1952.
2 The next question, my Lord, I ask on this topic, recycling
and waste, is this: Does the manufacturer of paper for
3 the plaintiffs' packaging create any significant hazards
to human health or to the environment at large? Mr. Bryan
4 Bateman -- the reference is yellow bundle IV/11 -- who is
an expert in the manufacture of paper will tell your
5 Lordship that it is not.
6 The next question: Do the plaintiffs have a responsible
attitudes and effective policies in relation to the
7 reduction, recycling and disposal of waste, including
environment/index.html">litter? I answer that question in this way: First, my
8 Lord, the plaintiffs' evidence will show that the
plaintiffs, both in the United States and in Europe, have
9 always striven, often in collaboration with outside
agencies, to find ways of reducing the amount of packaging
10 they need, of increasing its recycled content, of using
whatever materials are thought to cause least damage to
11 the environment and controlling the environment/index.html">litter which a fast
food operation inevitably generates.
12
In all these areas, the plaintiffs have been at the
13 forefront of research and development of new initiatives
and practical action. I might give one example: In 1974,
14 in the USA, McDonald's were using cardboard containers for
their hamburgers and other products. In response to
15 public concern about the over use of trees, water and
energy, McDonald's commissioned the Stamford Research
16 Institute in California to carry out a study of the
question. This study included that McDonald's should
17 switch from paper to polystyrene foam. McDonald's duly
complied.
18
Some 15 years later, in response to concern in America
19 about landfill and disposal of polystyrene foam,
McDonald's commissioned a further study by Franklin
20 Associates Limited. This study concluded that, after all,
paper was more environmentally friendly than polystyrene
21 foam. So, McDonald's in America immediately switched back
to paper which is what they use now.
22
My Lord, another example from a different area, environment/index.html">litter:
23 Professor Ashworth, who is Research Professor of Urban
Environmental Studies at the University of Salford and who
24 has been Director General of the Tidy Britain Group since
1987, describes McDonald's policies, attitudes and
25 initiatives in trying to reduce the amount of environment/index.html">litter which
it creates and to prevent its spread, as I quote
26 "exemplary". In that he includes (but by no means
restricts it to) the provision of "environment/index.html">litter patrols" by
27 McDonald's staff which were invented by McDonald's and
were at any rate for a long time unique to McDonald's.
28
My Lord, the next topic is nutrition. This is, as your
29 Lordship will appreciate -- this is not meant as a sour
pun; it lies at the heart of the case -- the reason is
30 that McDonald's sell food; their business depends upon it
and if people thought that the food was going to kill
