Moreover, he obviously doesn't have the faintest idea about how
a market works.
He seriously thinks plastic bag suppliers can or should try to
restrict and dictate to their customers the types and colors of
bags that will be manufactured for sale? Duh?
Worse, Walt is ignorant about the remarkable environmental and
material conservation attributes of plastic bags compared with paper.
The source-reduction benefits of plastic bags far outweigh the recycling
benefits of paper bags, as numerous studies in the United States,
Germany and Canada have confirmed over and over again, since 1990.
Walt, recycling that makes sustainable sense economically and environmentally
will continue to grow, but buyers of bags will continue to specify
packaging that meets their marketing and economic objectives first,
just as recyclers specify their incoming material stream to meet
their own marketing and economic objectives first. When both of
those streams are simpatico, perhaps you'll be happier. But, to
suggest that the selfish goals of recycling entrepreneurs should
dictate the choice of packaging material specifications two to four
steps up the marketing chain is not just naive, but genuinely stupid.
When it comes to singing the blues, give me B.B. King, not Walt
Bobruk and his ilk.
George A. Makrauer
ComAd Management Group Inc.
Treasure Island, Fla.
