Day 010 - 11 Jul 94 - Page 06
1 eliminate its use of foam food packaging. My role was to
develop research, technical research, compile research
2 related to the manufacturing process associated with
making foam, related to the potential problems associated
3 with the use of a foam food package and related to the
problems associated with the disposal of a foam food
4 package, so that the research actually compiled a wide
body of information from one end of the production process
5 to the other, from the cradle, if you will, the
manufacturing process, to the grave, the disposal
6 process. In many ways, this was an unprecedented project
but it opened the door for further research and
7 elaboration by a wide number of different organisations,
including governmental organisations and business
8 organisations.
9 Q. We are going to go through the research in more detail
later, but can you tell us briefly what you discovered as
10 a result of the research? Why was foam food packaging
selected?
11 A. Foam food packaging was selected because it was
considered to be by local community groups that assembled
12 through a series of meetings -- all these groups, I would
note, were groups associated with local community issues
13 dealing with hazardous and solid waste disposal, but also
assembled at these meetings, these round table
14 discussions, were groups such as Greenpeace, business
leaders, business officials and government officials. In
15 the process of these discussions a strategy arose which
was to focus on a wasteful packaging product, and foam
16 food packaging came to be identified as an extremely
wasteful type of food packaging product that was, that in
17 a technical sense had a wide variety of problems
associated with it that you could identify at each point
18 in the process, from the manufacturing process at the
point of use and at the point of disposal.
19
So the research basically identified a wide variety of
20 documents that established these points and in a great
deal of clarity, and it was that kind of research which
21 I identified as I engaged in my own research. The
findings showed that foam food packaging was relatively
22 unsafe. It had a number chemical hazards associated with
it. I hope that summarises what----
23
Q. Yes. Dave will take you through it in more detail. Why
24 was McDonald's chosen as the target?
A. McDonald's was identified by Grassroots groups as an
25 extravagant user of foam food package. It is worth noting
that these leaders were aware McDonald's was using the
26 foam food package primarily through the company's own
promotional advertising which called attention to the foam
27 food package as a marketable component of their product.
I would add that McDonald's became known as the largest
28 single user of the styrofoam food package.
29 Q. You just mentioned styrofoam. What do you mean by
styrofoam?
30 A. Well, the term "styrofoam" is a generic term that is
widely recognised in the United States by citizens as a
