Sunday, August 23, 2009

IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS WEBLOG

My investigations began back in August 2008 with Leisa Donlan CEO of ARMA (Association of Rotomoulders Australia) at the first post 'The journey begins'. Posts in small type headings carry all emails relating to that particular manufacturer/supplier. Posts in capital headings focus on specific aspects The weblog is being added to, improved upon and evolving continually. It will form an evidence database together with a national platform for discussion and debate.

Don Matthews

13 comments:

John Francis said...

Don,

It seems there is precious little actual debate happening, according to your posts. All I see is you harassing innocent small business owners with incessant emails (and physical presence it seems as well).

Even when you are referred to the right people - i.e. the supplier companies - you have continued to harass the small business owners who are selling the products. Rudely demanding answers from people who cannot give them to you is an utterly pointless exercise.

I learnt recently (from your own material) that you have been barred from the Blackwood Library for misuse of their resources. This lends support to my impression that this is not about debating so much as harassment.

Like a similar comment on this blog a while ago that you never replied to, I would like to see some verification of your credentials. What university did you attend, and when did you graduate, and what exact degree did you complete?

Sincerely,

John Francis
johnfrancis6464@gmail.com

John Francis said...

Don,

First of all, I didn't email you. I posted a comment on your blog, and you chose to email me back privately - thus taking what passes for "debate" in this space out of the public eye. If you want to continue the discussion so that the public can read, please respond in comments on your blog.

Frankly, Don, I do not believe any of your claims.

You say you have degrees in organic chemistry and pure mathematics from Flinders and Adelaide Unis, though you avoided answering my questions about when you graduated. I want to follow this up to verify your claims. When did you graduate, from each institution? And what degree did you do at each institution?

You are not "asking retailers", as you so claim so wide-eyed and innocent. You are harassing retailers, plain and simple.

When you answer my enquiries, I will respond to the other things you raise in your email to me.

Sincerely,

John Francis
johnfrancis6464@gmail.com


On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 4:24 PM, Don Matthews (donmatthews7@gmail.com) wrote:
Dear John,

Thanks for your email.

I have a degree in organic chemistry (honours) and pure mathematics from Adelaide and Flinders Universities and my career was in chemistry education. This background taught me that UV degraded plastic cannot be remoulded and recycled. Ultraviolet rays in sunlight rupture the long plastic molecules. The plastic loses its properties which enable it to be remoulded and no technology exists to reverse the process. I have asked the industry to produce evidence to refute but no-one has. I have evidence from Research and Development of a major poly tank manufacturer confirming that degraded plastic cannot be recycled.

Why am I asking retailers? Because I want to know what they advise an environmentally-concerned member of the public about recycling of a product they sell. This is information they should have at hand and if If they don't (and most won't) I would expect them to contact the manufacturer and get back. I see providing this information to the public as part of their responsibility as a retailer.

When the industry sales machine stops advising retailers and the buying public that their degraded tanks can be recycled then I will know people are beginning to think about it. I believe the recycling story is a myth being perpetuated to make us all feel environmentally comfortable and that education and awareness is the answer. The industry don't want to acknowledge a problem exists.

Regards

Don Matthews

Don Matthews said...

John,

I graduated from Adelaide University in the late 60's with a BSc majoring in organic chemistry and pure maths. A few years later I completed an honours degree in organic chemistry at Flinders University.

My background tells me UV-degraded plastic cannot be remoulded and recycled. Degraded plastic loses all its properties which enable it to be remoulded. The industry has not been able to produce any evidence to support claims that UV-degraded plastic can be recycled. When they talk about recycling they are talking about non-degraded plastic.

Retailers have a responsibility to provide information on the products they sell. If they don't know the answer I see it as their role to contact the manufacturer for advice and feed this back to the consumer. I do not see asking retailers to do this as this as 'harassment'.

Don Matthews

John Francis said...

Don,

Good of you to respond on your blog to keep this debate public.

I will be looking into the Adelaide and Flinders Uni records to confirm your degree, as this has relevance to the "debate".

"My background tells me" - These are weasel words. Back up your claims with references to the scientific literature and/or your own published peer-reviewed research. Until you can produce such references, I - and everyone else - cannot believe your claims.

Re asking retailers: the problem is not with you asking retailers as such; it is your response to their answers. When you do not get the answers you want, you harass and harass and harass - to the point of police intervention (I understand that you are now restrained from contacting any Mitre 10 stores in South Australia). Do you not see that this is a problem?

Sincerely,

John Francis
johnfrancis6464@gmail.com

John Francis said...

Don,

The silence is deafening.

If you do not respond to my request by close of business Monday September 7th I (and everyone else) will assume that means you have no evidence.

Nice having your own tactics used against you, isn't it!

Sincerely,

John Francis
johnfrancis6464@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Well done John!
I have been watching this blog ever since having fliers stuffed under my windscreen in Blackwood. I have found the escalation of Don's harassment of small retailers quite alarming,and the absence of evidence to support his wild claims conspicuous.
As an Honours Science graduate of Flinders University, I am also offended at Don's claiming qualifications he almost certainly doesn't have.
This makes him a fraud, and his argument seriously flawed.
Give us a year of both your degree and honours qualifications so we can check them, Don.
A TAFE course in basic computer skills for seniors I could believe!

John Francis said...

Don,

No response to my questions? I can only conclude that you have no evidence to support your claims about poly tanks.

Do you have anything to say?

Sincerely,

John Francis
johnfrancis6464@gmail.com

John Francis said...

Don,

Are you going to respond to any of my questions? It's been weeks.

Sincerely,

John Francis
johnfrancis6464@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Don

This is the sort of thing you should be researching.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/09/plastic-concrete-hippies-wet-dream-hit-man

Here is someone looking at ways to recycle spent poly products. Looking for applications like this might be a more productive way of dealing with your issues.

Think about how much better it would be to direct your passion towards finding solutions rather than problems.

John

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