Day 292 - 01 Nov 96 - Page 37
1
2 It does not say that they have lied about any particular
3 product and, of course, it is our case that even the use of
4 the word 'recycled' people should not be fooled into
5 thinking, as they would do, that that is something that has
6 been a product that has been used and returned to the
7 factory -- and that is how the public understand recycling
8 -- because their role in this is to put it into some kind
9 of separation system where it will be returned to be
10 recycled i.e. the cycle has been completed.
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12 The very word 'recycled' implies a completed loop from
13 production to consumption, not just ploughing back in waste
14 or cut-offs, or something else, in the production process
15 at any stage, which you would expect any company to do if
16 they could anyway because it is often commercially sensible
17 to do so. But what is not necessarily commercially
18 sensible to do, is to do what is environmentally the best
19 thing, which is to try and get the material back from the
20 customers and recycle it.
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22 The point is, it is a hard fact of life for a multinational
23 corporation to by and large get their own way through the
24 world, that some things are not commercially beneficial,
25 but they have an obligation to do so. Especially when they
26 try and claim the moral high ground to say how
27 environmentally aware they are. So I think there is an
28 implication here that McDonald's is choosing to take the
29 moral high ground and make all kinds of claims, and that
30 people should look at the reality.
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32 MR JUSTICE BELL: Well, I understand that point very well. That
33 you should say that the normal reader would think of
34 recycled paper as paper which has got to the end of its
35 normal useful life unless it is fed back into the
36 manufacturing stream. I understand that.
37
38 MR. MORRIS: Yes, I think the way the public see this is that
39 instead of it being scrunched up and thrown in the bin
40 there is some kind of system for recycling it back.
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42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I understand the point.
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44 MR. MORRIS: That is the image people have.
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46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is potentially important.
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48 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
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50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But there is a clear allegation of conscious
51 deception there, is there not? You need not be afraid of
52 it. You may establish that it is justified. Is there not
53 a clear-----?
54
55 MR. MORRIS: I don't think it is not saying they are lying, it
56 is just saying, all right, conscious deception, yes.
57 Conscious deception. It is not lies, it is not saying they
58 have told something that is untrue and they know it to be
59 untrue, which McDonald's, we say, have to prove about their
60 claims against us. It is saying, really, that they are
