Kickstart: Bag bans take a virus sabbatical

California is easing back on both its recycling and single-use plastic bag rules.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an order on April 23 that set aside the state's ban on bags and the opening hours for recycing centers for 60 days in a move to limit exposure to the coronavirus.

Newsom said the bag ban came after hearing concerns from the California Grocers Association about clerks having to handle bags brought in by customers.

"We are being cautious to make sure there is no transmission of the virus," Dave Heylen, a vice president for the grocers' group, told the Los Angeles Times. He said the grocers will go back to abiding by the plastic bag ban when the order expires.

On recycling, the state suspended requirements that a recycling center operate for a miniumum number of hours per week.

The move comes as organizations such as the National Association for PET Container Resources and other groups raise concerns about the dropoff in the recycling stream for PET bottles due to a suspension in state bottle bills. Assistant Managing Editor Steve Toloken will be continuing to follow the sustainability story during the COVID-19 crisis.

The North American auto industry is making tentative steps toward restarting production lines that have been shut down since mid-March, but there are complications.

For one, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has extended the bulk of the stay-at-home measures until May 15, as our sister newspaper Crain's Detroit Business writes, but there are exemptions for "transportation and logistics" and "critical manufacturing" as sectors where some employees can go to work.

Automakers including the "Detroit 3" of Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler have been eyeing a return to manufacturing during the first week of May. Union members in the U.S. and Canada alike, however, are not in full agreement.

"We've taken the position with the Detroit 3 that if our members aren't comfortable going back to work, then there's no way we're going to allow any company to force people back to work," said Jerry Dias, the president of Canadian auto union Unifor, told Automotive News April 25. "We're not giving any green light at all unless our local health and safety people and our committees are 100-percent convinced that everything is OK."

For another look at the preparations to return to work, check out the weekly surveys by the Canadian Association of Mold Makers.

CAMM released the results of its fifth weekly survey April 24, noting that there were signs of renewed activity.

"Layoffs have slowed dramatically from a peak three weeks ago and callbacks of laid-off employees have started," CAMM said in a news release. "With a likely restart of production in the automotive industry in North America targeted for early May, the focus seems to have shifted on start-up planning."

Just shy of a third of the mold makers in the survey said they have started to recall workers to begin the process of reopening.

You can find links to all of the weekly surveys at the CAMM website.