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

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