Day 059 - 01 Dec 94 - Page 53
1 Q. You said that they were now made of, what was it, stainless
2 steel?
3 A. Stainless steel tanks, yes, about the size of you would
4 expect to see of an emersion heater in a domestic home.
5
6 Q. Are there in any other, what I might call, economies of
7 scale which you have been able to achieve?
8 A. Yes. Milk shake mix at one time was delivered in a bag
9 inside a cardboard box and today is delivered in a bag in a
10 returnable crate.
11
12 Q. You have told us about the reduction in the area of the
13 napkin. Are there any other items or categories in which
14 you have been able to achieve any reductions in overall
15 weight or volume of packaging?
16 A. Yes, I cannot be specific on this, but there are many
17 outer cases that have been reduced in weight down to a
18 point where the case is still strong enough to adequately
19 contain the product inside it. But a lot of source
20 reduction has happened in outer packaging, in particular.
21
22 Q. Again I ask you this, have those savings, if I may call
23 them that, been significant in terms of packaging and waste
24 reduction or not?
25 A. Yes.
26
27 Q. Overall?
28 A. Yes, they have been very significant.
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is improved technology, is it, or is it
31 the result of an urge to cut down?
32 A. To be honest, my Lord, many things happen in industry
33 that have happened in the same way for a very long time. A
34 lot of the packaging, for example, or pesticides used on
35 growing products, a lot of those areas, if you ask people
36 why they did this, they would say: "Because we have always
37 done it this way" and when you can show them a better way
38 that still gets the end result that you want and uses less
39 material or less pesticide or less fertilizer, after you
40 can prove it to them, they will readily accept, but until
41 then they are happy to go along as they have always gone
42 along because they know that is a safe way to go.
43
44 MR. RAMPTON: You said that Perseco, I do not know quite, a flag
45 bearer perhaps, would be the right word, I do not know, in
46 getting suppliers to think about these sorts of problems so
47 far as packaging is concerned?
48 A. Yes.
49
50 Q. You mentioned a moment ago pesticides. Does this question
51 of pesticides have any impact on, for example, your
52 potatoes?
53 A. Yes, it does.
54
55 Q. In what way?
56 A. Some four years ago McDonald's in Europe, not just in
57 the UK, but in Europe, took a decision that we would look
58 at the amount of pesticides and fertilizers being used to
59 grow McDonald's potatoes. As we thought that this could be
60 become an environmental issue in the future, having taken a
