Day 010 - 11 Jul 94 - Page 42
1 of community based organisations and their leaders to
discuss the foam issue within the context of those
2 people's communities, and that Mr. Yastrow's response was
to offer what came to be called the McRecycling programme.
3
Q. So at that time, in your experience, were McDonald's
4 offering that as the way of dealing with the disposal
problem, or certainly a major way of dealing with the
5 disposal problem?
A. Yes, that would be correct.
6
Q. What happened to this recycling programme, so far as you
7 understand? I think we have heard that in previous
testimony that it was something like 15 per cent of
8 restaurants at the high point were taking part in that
recycling programme of disposal packages?
9 A. From our perspective, the way that the recycling
programme appeared to be evolving was that in areas where
10 McDonald's was subjected to municipal bans and certain
types of issues were being raised, that in those places
11 then they would adopt the recycling programme which,
essentially, meant setting up a bin for their customers to
12 separate and place the foam in those receptacles.
13 It appeared to us that there was a great deal of
promotional advantage that McDonald's was seeking to gain
14 through this recycling programme, and it also appeared
that the recycling programme was exhibiting a great many
15 problems, notwithstanding the fact that the foam was
contaminated with materials from the food that had been
16 inside the package before it was discarded in the
recycling bin, but then further down the line with regard
17 to the reprocessing of the plastics in a recycling plant
and then even further down the line with regard to the
18 ability to market a commodity of made of recycled
styrofoam plastic.
19
Whilst there was a considerable degree of information
20 being generated by both McDonald's and foam packaging
organisations, it remained very unclear what was actually
21 being produced at the end of the recycling process and,
generally speaking, if you were to attend a trade show at
22 this time -- this is in the period of 1989, in early 1990
-- then there would be organisations promoting the
23 styrofoam and its recyclability. They would demonstrate
its recyclability with materials made out of plastics
24 which were generally composed of other types of plastic,
polymers.
25
Q. Rather than polystyrene foam?
26 A. Right.
27 Q. So would you say that there was a tendency of McDonald's
to use this programme as a public relations exercise?
28 A. That would be my view.
29 Q. But that, in any event, there would be fundamental
problems with it even if, you know, they were very serious
30 about it?
A. I guess the point is that whether or not this was
