Day 075 - 17 Jan 95 - Page 40


     
     1   Q.   And the cost?
     2        A.  Yes.
     3
     4   Q.   The right for a Local Authority to impose that tax is now
     5        established as Federal law in Germany?
     6        A.  In Germany as I understand it, yes.
     7
     8   Q.   In fact I think it has been said in court that McDonald's
     9        are appealing against that, but it is in fact law in
    10        Germany, yes?  Is that a yes?
    11        A.  So far as I know it is, yes.
    12
    13   Q.   So is that a recognition that the cost for local
    14        authorities, or do you recognise that the cost for local
    15        authorities is not just the sheer collection of environment/index.html">litter; it
    16        is also the whole management of the waste stream from
    17        beginning to end, it is ultimately what it costs the local
    18        authority?
    19        A.  Well, it depends.  You have a slightly different system
    20        in terms of government and levels of government
    21        responsibility in Germany from what you do here.  There is
    22        at the present time a distinction between a waste disposal
    23        authority and a waste collection authority.  So far as the
    24        local authority is concerned, depending on what level you
    25        are talking about, it a cost which is the cost of
    26        collection.
    27
    28   Q.   In Germany?
    29        A.  Here and others have a waste disposable.  The great
    30        debate at the moment is whether or not the new
    31        Environmental Protection Agency will take on some
    32        responsibility for the monitoring of all that and how waste
    33        disposal authorities may or may not be constituted.  So the
    34        answer to your question is that in this country the cost is
    35        the cost of collection.
    36
    37   Q.   So who actually pays for the management of the disposal?
    38        A.  The waste disposal authority whoever or whatever that
    39        is and it varies from place to place; some are county
    40        councils, some are specially constituted waste disposal
    41        authority and they may precept on the council or not.
    42
    43   Q.   Where do they get their funding from?
    44        A.  They may precept on the district council and they may
    45        give it credit.  You are familiar with the credit system
    46        whereby a waste disposal authority can give credit to a
    47        council for reducing the amount it sends to them to dispose
    48        of.
    49
    50   Q.   Ultimately the payment for the management of waste after it 
    51        has been collected generally accrues to the local 
    52        ratepayers, does it? 
    53        A.  Well, one way or another, in my opinion, it accrues to
    54        members of the general public.  You either pay for it
    55        through your rates or you pay for it in increased cost of
    56        the product that you send back.  One way or another the
    57        customer or the member of the general public pays for it.
    58        That seems to me to be inevitable.
    59
    60   Q.   So, in fact, the reduction of waste, if it can be reduced,

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