Pubdate: Tue, 21 Mar 2000
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright: 2000 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact:  GPO Box 3771, Sydney NSW 2001
Fax: +61-(0)2-9282 3492
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Forum: http://forums.fairfax.com.au/
Section: Stay in Touch
Author: not listed

BONG A DRUM

Reading the recycling and waste industries trade mag WM&E - as we are wont
to do when Australian Crochet is out of stock - we came across a piece
about Coca-Cola Amatil rejuvenating PET bottles at its Sydney plant in
Prestons.

It seems the bottlers have had some problems with impurities surfacing in
the recycling process. Usually the problem is something like labels, food
residue or aluminium or steel caps. But WM&E report that, "However, after
running the process for some time and finding chunks of PVC in the
granulated material, home-made bongs composed of PET bottles and pieces of
garden hose were identified as the culprits."

Now you may think this would earn the ire of Clint Howard's drug czar,
Major "test them all, they're drug fiends, you know" Watters, but to our
way of thinking there is something to be said for all those politicians and
public servants who, while making decisions under the influence of drugs,
have the decency to think about recycling. Maybe Clean Up Australia's Ian
Kiernan could rethink his strategy for the pre-Olympics clean-up. How about
Keep Australia Beautiful and Stoned? You read it here first, folks.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Eric Ernst