Day 063 - 07 Dec 94 - Page 13

     
     1        place in a conversion plant or in a paper mill where the
     2        off-cuts are, as it were, fed right into the beginning of
     3        the process which is not recycling.
     4
     5   Q.   Yes, but that is what, if I can put to it, an
     6        environmentalist's position would be, that material that
     7        is, what you might call, off-cuts and transferred to a pulp
     8        mill is not generally recycled, but it can be categorised
     9        as recycled?
    10        A.  It depends on -- if you are talking about off-cuts of a
    11        paper mill, that will not be regarded as being, in general,
    12        will not be regarded as being recycled because in that same
    13        mill you can actually do something with it.  However, if
    14        off-cuts occur somewhere else in a country at a completely
    15        different plant and they would otherwise be disposed of
    16        with the local waste stream or an industrial waste stream,
    17        then, yes, I would consider that recycling.
    18
    19   MR. MORRIS:  But McDonald's position in the US -- I could get it
    20        out from the Environmental Defence Fund Report -- is to
         increase as much as possible the post-consumer recycled
    22        content; is that correct?
    23        A.  There has been a lot more environmental legislative
    24        pressure in the US to actually make that distinction and to
    25        push the post-consumer recycling.
    26
    27   Q.   Yes.  In fact, in the States if something has not got a
    28        substantial percentage of post-consumer content, then it
    29        cannot generally be considered to be recycled, is that
    30        correct, it cannot be labelled as "recycled"?
    31        A.  I think you will have to label it "post-consumer
    32        recycled" -- sorry, "post-industrial recycled", but I think
    33        you can label it "recycled" but I am not for 100 per cent
    34        familiar with American legislation.
    35
    36   Q.   We did look at this before; maybe it is not necessary to
    37        look at it again.
    38        A.  I think the only restriction is that you actually have
    39        to state what it is.
    40
    MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Your definition of what "recycled material"
    42        is given in the left hand column above the dark line on
    43        page 729?
    44        A.  Yes.
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:  I will just read it out because it has been read
    47        out before from the McDonald's and EDF joint report in
    48        1991:  "In the States McDonald's has directed its suppliers
    49        to maximise the percentage of recycled post-consumer
    50        materials."  So, that is in the States, they consider that 
    51        post-consumer recycled materials are the ones that are 
    52        most, in the context of this environmental report, the 
    53        percentage that is most important?
    54        A.  I think it is important because you have to start in
    55        several states in the US, you actually have to make a
    56        difference between them, so, you have to state it.  So that
    57        is why they consider it important and they -- I think they
    58        have tried to pre-empt legislation there as well, at least
    59        try to put that in place before actual legislation would
    60        say you can only use post-consumer recycled and label that