Day 075 - 17 Jan 95 - Page 19

     
     1
     2   Q.   When was the period where you feel that Britain, you know,
     3        could not be kept tidy; it is a question of fighting a
     4        battle to get it to be tidy, if you like?
     5        A.  I think it was at the time of the late 70s and early
     6        80s, and I think that is reflected in the fact that there
     7        was a Litter Act in 1981 which really was brought
     8        into -- there were two -- there were some changes in local
     9        government practice that occurred in the late 70s and then
    10        the introduction of the Litter Act in 1981 was a
    11        recognition that there was a problem of a different order
    12        than had previously been the case.
    13
    14   Q.   Would you say that the changes that occurred in the 70s,
    15        that the rise of fast-food business was a component in the
    16        changes?
    17        A.  Yes, it was certainly a factor but the larger, in the
    18        sense that it was part of a larger programme of a great
    19        increase in packaging and changes in packaging processors
    20        and procedure, I think, not just in relation to fast-food
         but in relation to a great many other things as well.
    22
    23   Q.   When we talked about the European hierarchy of priorities
    24        and the removal of as much packaging as possible from the
    25        waste stream, is one of the considerations that it is not
    26        just the picking up of the environment/index.html">litter that is a problem, it is
    27        also the management of the waste stream as a whole that is
    28        a problem?  I mean -- that was a bit of a tortuous question
    29         -- what I am saying is, are you not just concerned with
    30        the physically picking up the environment/index.html">litter once it is created,
    31        but also that the sheer volume of packaging has other
    32        problems in terms of the management of its volume?
    33        A.  The Tidy Britain Group's primary concern is that environment/index.html">litter
    34        which equally defines as waste in the wrong place is that
    35        it should be put in the right place, in other words, it
    36        should be back into the waste stream.  That is Tidy Britain
    37        Group's primary concern because it seeks to be a
    38        responsible environmental organisation and because it looks
    39        at causes.  If there are difficulties in the management of
    40        waste that, in turn, give rise to additional environment/index.html">litter
         problems, then it is interested in those.
    42
    43        For example, if the ability of a Local Authority to
    44        establish an appropriate system of collecting trade waste
    45        gives rise to environment/index.html">litter, then that is a matter that is of
    46        concern and interest to us.
    47
    48   Q.   What about, for example, if there are problems with, say,
    49        landfill management, landfill of waste material which is
    50        buried in landfill?  I mean, say, for example, in America 
    51        McDonald's have recognised there was a big problem about 
    52        landfill space and ----- 
    53
    54   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Just ask if the TBG is concerned with that
    55        aspect of matters and to what extent, if so.  I am sure
    56        Professor Ashworth knows the sort of things you are talking
    57        about.
    58
    59   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  (To the witness):  Are you concerned with
    60        that?  Is the TBG, even if indirectly, concerned with those