Day 060 - 02 Dec 94 - Page 70
1 MR. MORRIS: Yes, that was it. Thank you. I would
2 contend -----
3
4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let us look at it first of all.
5
6 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, it may be useful to start at the second
7 paragraph in the right-hand column which was not read on
8 the previous occasion.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let me just read the right-hand column.
11 Yes?
12
13 MR. MORRIS: In the light of those detailed findings which
14 I note are based upon appropriate adjusted data from a
15 previous Franklin Associates' study, that is in the
16 paragraph above the actual figures on page 233. Frank
17 Associates is a company that has done a number of studies
18 for McDonald's in the US, have they not? I think it came
19 up before in another issue. I cannot remember which one it
20 was now. It is clear that by all standards of comparisons
21 polystyrene foam comes off worse in all cases, in some
22 cases dramatically worse. Is that correct?
23 A. I think I said in my comment on the "Did you Know"
24 leaflet that that was a generic statement. The first
25 complete paragraph on 223 makes exactly that point: "It is
26 critical to note that McDonald's decision to phase out
27 polystyrene packaging and substitute paper-based wraps
28 cannot be evaluated as generic paper versus plastic
29 issue". I think you can make one generic statement about
30 paper and you can make another about plastic, but to try to
31 relate one to the other is extremely difficult because they
32 are entirely different things.
33
34 Q. Yes, but what they are saying is that there are differences
35 with different paper, differences may be in the
36 polystyrene, presumably, but the general position that they
37 have concluded here in this document endorsed by McDonald's
38 is that, in the next paragraph after the figures on page
39 224, "Even if one assumes a highly optimistic recycling
40 rate for polystyrene foam of 50 per cent" which, in fact,
41 is not the case any more in the States, is it, because the
42 recycling was stopped, "environmental consequences in all
43 categories are still considerably lower for the new wraps."
44 A. They would be, yes.
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It has already been indicated that the
47 document on page 684 of pink V is dated June 1990, and the
48 American Task Force EDF Report is some 10 months later in
49 April 1991.
50 A. That is right.
51
52 Q. I think at the end of the day what is being put to you is
53 this: In the States McDonald's, it is suggested, has
54 decided to phase out polystyrene in packaging because, if
55 you look at a basket full of environmental considerations
56 including energy use, air emissions, water born waste and
57 solid waste, and then bear in mind the problems with
58 polystyrene foam recycling, which you do not by and large
59 have with paper recycling, the environmental balance falls
60 very heavily in favour of paper rather than polystyrene
