Day 243 - 02 May 96 - Page 16

     
     1        towns and cities introduced the same law and took the case
     2        for judgment at the highest court in Germany at Karlsruhe.
     3        This court in a pre-trial assessment agreed to adjudicate
     4        and indicated that they believed the tax was correct.
     5        After this was known, many more communities introduced the
     6        tax: 100 by 1st January 1996, with more doing so in the
     7        following three months.
     8
     9        10.  In Frankfurt there are 17 McDonald's outlets, which
    10        because of the tax are now using a type of multi-use
    11        plastic cup.
    12
    13        11.  McDonald's is well aware of best practice in packaging
    14        and containers all over the world but is waiting until it
    15        is forced to change by increasing environmental awareness.
    16        This is exemplified by the following statements in the
    17        minutes of McDonald's Europe Waste vs Disposables meeting
    18        held on 21st January 1991."
    19
    20        That is a document disclosed by the Plaintiffs.  I am not
         sure where it is kept but it can be referred to, if
    22        necessary, if challenged:
    23
    24        "If reusable packaging becomes an issue in any community,
    25        it would have a major impact on the way we do business.'
    26
    27        'UK - Mike Matthews and Corinne Reed-Comfort indicated
    28        that solid waste is not yet a key concern in the UK ...
    29        McDonald's key UK environmental issues are environment/index.html">litter, signage
    30        and traffic.'
    31
    32        'Ideas such as Klarges (a recycling and composting pilot
    33        project) however are worth investigating in that
    34        waste/packaging concerns will soon arise in the UK as
    35        well.'
    36
    37        'While early detention of a disposal vs. reusable
    38        packaging issue is important (via close interaction between
    39        marketing/PR and in particular real estate people), it is
    40        even more critical that countries have waste initiatives in
         progress before this issue is raised'.
    42
    43        12.  Recycling when carried out must be made to work.  I am
    44        informed that in one scheme in Nottingham people put
    45        plastic in recycling bins but it was never actually
    46        recycled.
    47
    48        13.  In 1991, McDonald's restaurants in Switzerland
    49        commissioned a report on the ecological impact of a
    50        McDonald's restaurant compared with three other 
    51        restaurants.  However the study only included the direct 
    52        local impacts of the restaurants themselves and not the 
    53        wider impacts of running the different types of business.
    54        For example, the water and energy use at the restaurants
    55        such as washing the reusable dishes, was counted, but not
    56        the water and energy use for producing and transporting the
    57        throwaway McDonald's packaging.  This is one way in which
    58        ecological balances such as these can be misused.
    59
    60        14.  Improvement have occurred in techniques such as these