Day 007 - 06 Jul 94 - Page 63


     
     1        A.  If you reduce anything you use it will have an
              environmental impact for the better, yes.
     2
         Q.   Yes.  You also stated that McDonald's packaging was six
     3        per cent of the total food packaging.  I believe that was
              for polystyrene, yes?
     4        A.  Yes.
 
     5   Q.   Of the total?
              A.  The polystyrene foam that McDonald's uses was six per
     6        cent of the polystyrene foam, food service foam, that was
              made.
     7
         Q.   Right.  McDonald's is a food service company?
     8        A.  Correct.
 
     9   Q.   How many food service companies do you think there may be,
              say, in America?  We are talking about America.
    10        A.  Thousands, but I have no idea.
 
    11   Q.   So out of thousands of companies one single company uses
              six per cent of the total?
    12        A.  Apparently at that time.
 
    13   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Some of them will be little corner pancake
              shops, and so on, will they not?
    14        A.  Yes.
 
    15   MR. MORRIS:  Is it possible to use -- I do not know the answer
              to this question -- polystyrene without a blowing agent?
    16        A.  Yes, it is used.  It is used often.  We use it for
              disposable cutlery, for instance.  It is the same type of
    17        original material.
 
    18   Q.   Have you considered doing that instead of using any
              blowing agents?
    19        A.  For cutlery or for?
 
    20   Q.   No, for McDonald's packaging?
              A.  It does not serve the same function.  The purpose of
    21        the package is to try to contain the product and to keep
              the product hot and moist.  We found that other
    22        alternatives did that job better than would a rigid
              polystyrene container.  So it is the foam that provides
    23        the insulation as it does in your home.
 
    24   Q.   Is polystyrene biodegradable in landfills or anywhere, in
              fact?
    25        A.  Technically, it is not biodegradable.  The second
              statement that you added in, landfills, I would say that 
    26        not much does biodegradable in a landfill in the US 
              because we try to prevent water and air to get in there so 
    27        that you reduce methane but, technically, no polystyrene
              would not be biodegradable.
    28
         Q.   So once polystyrene is used, as far as we know, it is
    29        there forever?
              A.  Unless it is recycled or incinerated.
    30
         Q.   Right.  What percentage of McDonald's polystyrene

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