Day 059 - 01 Dec 94 - Page 30
1
2 Q. They moved to this country when?
3 A. Two years ago.
4
5 Q. I am not suggesting you do have to, but if you had to make
6 an equation -- "equation" would be the wrong word because
7 it might not be an equation -- if you had to do, as it
8 were, a balancing exercise between polystyrene foam and
9 paper from the environmental point of view, remembering
10 that polystyrene foam has to be blown and then disposed of,
11 and remembering that paper comes from trees at one stage or
12 another in its life cycle, where do you think the balance
13 would lie, from an environmental point of view?
14 A. From an environmental point of view, I think it is six
15 of one and half a dozen of the other. I really do not see
16 that you could come down in favour of polystyrene or
17 paper.
18
19 Q. What if it was suggested, Mr. Oakley, that you should
20 abandon disposable packaging altogether and go back to what
21 some might regard as the good old days when you went into a
22 restaurant or a cafe and you got a plate made of pottery or
23 china and a knife and fork probably made of steel of some
24 kind, what would be your response to that?
25 A. My response would be, very simply, that to have
26 reusables in the restaurant, which is what you are
27 referring to ---
28
29 Q. Yes.
30 A. -- I do not think would be as safe, I do not think a
31 reusable is as hygienic, it certainly takes more energy to
32 clean and wash reusables and you would certainly pollute
33 the air through cleaning and washing reusables. So,
34 I think the balance in take-away packaging is better.
35
36 Q. Are you aware whether anybody has studied that question,
37 usables or disposables, I should say, versus reusables, in
38 a scientific manner?
39 A. Yes, I am aware.
40
41 Q. Are you aware of the results of that work?
42 A. Yes, I have seen the results of that study.
43
44 Q. What does it tell you?
45 A. Pretty much what I have just told you.
46
47 Q. Was that work done by the industry, as it were, by the
48 fast food disposable packaging industry?
49 A. No, it was not. It was done by an independent company
50 in Switzerland.
51
52 MR. MORRIS: Sorry, was that one of the documents?
53
54 MR. RAMPTON: No, we do not have it. The document you have is
55 the one that was done in America which Mr. Langert referred
56 to.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: We need to have it if it is going to be
59 relied on.
60
