A report by Ray Georgeson on a dilemma he faced when picking up his milk one morning - the packaging having changed overnight from glass to a plastic, one-trip, one-pint container. He voiced his concerns to the milkman who explains that he has discontinued milk in reusable glass because it is now too expensive, and that he level of damage to milk on doorsteps, although small, is sufficient to make the business lossmaking because the margins are uncomfortably tight nowadays, when faced with the milk pricing policies of the major retailers. Sensing Ray's agitation, the milkman even offers to take away the plastic bottles and recycle them if it will help. Ray wants to keep using his services but doesn't want to add more plastic into the waste stream than is absolutely necessary. This article reports further on the staggering decline of milk deliveries.
