Kickstart: The $12B legal pot packaging business

I know that the legal marijuana industry has its controversies. Maybe you don't think it should be legal at all. Maybe you think it should be regulated in the same way as alcohol sales. But most states have some sort of legal process on the books, either for medical uses or, in 11 states currently, for recreational use.

But one thing is certain: The demand for packaging for marijuana products is growing. New York-based Zion Market Research says the forecast for sales of flexible and rigid packaging for cannabis is growing at an annual rate of 7.1 percent, Catherine Kavanaugh writes.

"Currently worth an estimated $12 billion, demand for vials, bottles, medicine droppers, rubber gaskets, zip-locking bags and the like is expected to almost double to $20 billion by 2025," she noted.

And those companies opting for glass packaging still need to turn to plastics for childproof closures.

"Most closures that you will find paired with our wide-mouth jars are your standard text-top or pictorial top push down and turn child-resistant closures," said Edward Cook, product marketing manager for Union, N.J.-based O. Berk Co.

Milwaukee will be the focus of a new effort to clean up the Great Lakes by collecting trash from the Kinnickinnic River before it can enter Lake Michigan.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced June 15 that it was awarding its first Great Lakes Restorations Intitiative Trash Free Waters Grant to Harbor District Inc., with nearly $500,000 going to build and install the trash collector.

The ‌grant program launched in 2019 with $2 million available to help finance programs to clean up the Great Lakes. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Harbor District Inc. and local partners will install a trash collection device in the Kinnickinnic River about 2 miles upstream from Lake Michigan. Floating booms will capture plastics, trash and other debris. Conveyor belts will transfer it to shore where it can be properly recycled or disposed of, according to a news release from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The project is expected to collect an estimated 75 tons of trash annually.

Harbor District says it took inspiration from Baltimore's "Mr. Trash Wheel," which went into place in 2014 to clean waters at Baltimore Harbor.

Johnson & Johnson is getting more colorful with its Band-Aid brand.

In an announcement initially posted on Instagram on June 10, the consumer health care company said it was making its bandages available for a range of skin tones.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Band-Aid said: "We hear you. We see you. We're listening to you. We stand in solidarity with our Black colleagues, collaborators and community in the fight against racism, violence and injustice. We are committed to taking actions to create tangible change for the black community. We are committed to launching a range of bandages in light, medium and deep shades of Brown and Black skin tones that embrace the beauty of diverse skin."

As our sister magazine Ad Age noted, J&J has offered other skin tones before. In 2005, it introduced the Perfect Blend Band-Aids, but the line was discontinued "due to lack of interest," a spokeswoman told Ad Age, adding: "We are excited to bring back a similar product with improved comfort and flexibility."

Bandages are typically made with a flexible plastic adhesive film.