Day 243 - 02 May 96 - Page 11
1 that is non-governmental organisations, yes?
2 A. Yes.
3
4 Q. "have agreed priorities on dealing with waste. The first
5 priority is always prevention and then recycling et
6 cetera. Hence, it is generally agreed that the most
7 environmentally sound method of dealing with waste is not
8 to produce it.
9
10 41. The UK Government has long stated that reducing the
11 amount of waste produced is the first priority. Waste
12 minimisation comes before reuse, materials recycling,
13 energy recovery and landfill and incineration in its
14 hierarchy - for example, see Waste Management Paper No. 28
15 (Department of Environment, 1991) on Recycling.
16
17 In its latest consultation document, A Waste Strategy for
18 England and Wales (DOE, 1995), the Government states on
19 page 9 'Preventing waste from arising means that the
20 potential environmental problems associated with waste
21 disposal as well as with recycling, composting and recovery
22 of energy are avoided'. The Department of Environment has
23 proposed a target of stabilising 'the production of
24 household waste at its present level' (1995). This
25 recognition applies to other consumer waste similar to" ---
26 A. Sorry, there is a mistake there.
27
28 Q. -- "that with domestic waste, whether generated at home or
29 outside. The target is not consistent with an increase in
30 the amount of takeaway meals, which seems likely on some
31 current predictions."
32 A. There is one point on the waste strategy and the
33 target. They have postponed a target because they do not
34 know how much waste is produced at the moment, but in the
35 current waste strategy, which I refer to in the
36 supplemental, they completely reinforce what they said
37 before about reduction prevention being the best options.
38
39 Q. "42. McDonald's uses a large amount of throwaway items
40 such as Happy Hats, tray liners et cetera. Many of these
41 could be avoided - they are not necessary. Children can be
42 entertained without giving out large amounts of unnecessary
43 objects: street entertainers and theatrical performances
44 manage this extremely well. Cups, plates and cutlery can
45 be made of durable materials and efficiently washed: high
46 class restaurants do not use paper and plastic throwaways."
47
48 Can I ask you, are high class restaurants the only
49 restaurants that do not use paper and plastic throwaways?
50 A. No, certainly ---
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have no reason to believe, expert though
53 she may be, that Miss Link knows any more about that than
54 I do. I can count on my own experience, so far as that is
55 concerned, or is there something special I should know?
56 A. I would say it applies to all restaurants. At all
57 levels there are ones which use very, very little waste;
58 there are some excellent examples.
59
60 Q. Yes.
