Kickstart: The all-American electric truck

Ford Motor Co. is ready to spend $700 million on a new plant to make electric F-150 pickup trucks. Maybe having an electric drivetrain for the 150, an iconic vehicle for the U.S., will finally tip the scales toward acceptance of EVs for American buyers. EVs generally mean more opportunities to supply plastics for battery systems, cables and connectors as well as lighter weight parts overall.

As our sister paper Automotive News writes, Ford plans for the electric 150s to be built adjacent to gasoline-powered trucks, which will mean they will go through the same paint and body shops.

But at the same time, the F-150 EV "would look 'distinct' from the gas-powered model," Ford executives said, although they did not provide specifics.

Maybe a clue as to how the automaker will make that happen can seen in the newest 150. As Sarah Kominek wrote for PN back in July, Ford engineers and designers have gotten comfortable with the idea of how they can use plastics and tooling to make the truck "span a variety of customers, expectations and price points."

In the days after Hurricane Laura hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in late August, it looked like most resin production in the region avoided damage.

For the most part, companies saw little direct damage and have said they were able to get their own operations repaired quickly. But the storm caused major issues with the electrical infrastructure in Louisiana, which means that some plants may not be able to fully start up again until sometime next month.

Frank Esposito writes that operations near Lake Charles, La., for LyondellBasell, Westlake and Sasol remain down, with no specific date to restart operations.

The Tampa Bay Times has been asking its readers what they want to know. One of the popular questions it recently tackled: What happens to the bags I take back to the store for recycling?

It's a question a lot of people have had lately, wondering if recycling programs are just some form of greenwashing.

The newspaper followed up with grocery store chain Publix, which also collects foam. Even further, the story got into the reasoning why film can be recycled by Publix or other big chains such as Walmart, but not in curbside programs.

While people in the plastics industry are familiar with the answer — film gets tangled up in recycling equipment, but big retailers like Publix can collect enough film to bale it up for processing — it's something most of the general public doesn't understand. And keeping them informed should certainly help in the long run.