Day 060 - 02 Dec 94 - Page 33
1 concern, leave aside why the concern was, because otherwise
2 you would not have got to hear of it?
3 A. Right, agree with that.
4
5 Q. What do you say about how wide the public concern was, if
6 any, at the time you made your decision? If you answer
7 that, Ms. Steel can ask you more about your answer if she
8 wishes?
9 A. I do not feel it was of wide public concern at that
10 time. Certainly, I did not get any pressure at that time;
11 I think I would have done had it been a wide public
12 concern.
13
14 MS. STEEL: There were publicly expressed concerns about
15 McDonald's packaging specifically?
16 A. I agree with that.
17
18 Q. That was before you took the decision, before you
19 approached Lin Pac and asked them to make the changes away
20 from CFCs?
21 A. Yes.
22
23 Q. Yes. I put it to you that the only reason or, OK, not the
24 only reason -- one of the reasons, and maybe the only
25 reason, that you asked Lin Pac to stop using CFCs in
26 McDonald's packaging was because you were worried that you
27 were going to be the target of some sort of campaign of
28 Friends of the Earth, or other environmental organisations,
29 asking people to boycott your products which were served in
30 foam packaging made with CFCs?
31 A. Friends of the Earth or other environmental
32 organisations were never a consideration. When I took this
33 decision, they were never a consideration. I took it
34 because of the reasons I explained yesterday and again this
35 morning.
36
37 MR. MORRIS: This decision was taken at the highest level, was
38 it, to phase out CFCs?
39 A. There was a discussion between Paul Preston and myself.
40
41 Q. Just the two of you?
42 A. Just the two of us.
43
44 Q. Is that how McDonald's makes decisions?
45 A. Sometimes; it depends on the situation.
46
47 Q. So it would not even have been discussed by a board
48 meeting?
49 A. Certainly not.
50
51 Q. So the McDonald's Restaurants Limited' environmental
52 concerns at that time largely hinged on you seeing reports
53 in the newspapers?
54 A. No, wrong; on that one issue, that is correct. It is
55 not -- the environmental policy at that time did not
56 largely hinge on me seeing reports in newspapers. On that
57 one issue it did, which was way ahead of the Montreal
58 Protocol, I would add.
59
60 MS. STEEL: I just want to ask you some questions about
