Kickstart: Considering the state of business in a COVID economy

Here at Plastics News, we've heard a lot of stories about companies being able to access new business lines or build production as the pandemic increased the importance of medical products and staycation home accessories.

But, of course, we know there are other companies continuing to suffer without making headlines.

Reporter Sarah Kominek has been talking to insiders who are in touch with the businesses struggling in this COVID-19 economy. Their general message? Companies that had already been seeing a slowdown before the pandemic are facing some really tough decisions. While banks have been patient, for the most part, that won't last forever, they warn.

"Plastics processors who were operationally sound and on the right vehicle platforms prior to COVID are doing OK, have cash flow, can pay their vendors, are getting paid by customers," said Ted Morgan of Plante Moran PLLC. "But a growing number of those not on as solid ground going into to the pandemic are really starting to feel the pain."

What will it take to make circular flexible food packaging? For a pilot at 10 Tesco supermarkets in the United Kingdom, five different companies all joining forces on packaging for one product: cheese.

Oh, and of course the cooperation of Tesco customers who returned film to the store.

Our sister paper Sustainable Plastics has the story about the work by Tesco, Plastic Energy, Sabic Innovative Polymers, Sealed Air and Bradburys.

"The flexible plastic material was first collected from the Tesco customers. This was then sent to Plastic Energy, who converted the used packaging into oil, through ... pyrolysis," Karen Laird writes in SP. "This recycled oil was used by Sabic in its production process as an alternative to traditional ... materials to make new virgin-quality resin material. This material was supplied to [film supplier] Sealed Air, who developed one of its existing plastic packaging designs to use this material while still meeting all the performance requirements of Tesco's cheese supplier, Bradburys."

So... sounds easy, right?

And at the end of the day, the project is for seven different cheeses, with packaging containing a "minimum" of 30 percent recycled material.

Don't get me wrong. I'm fully on board with a circular economy, especially projects tackling a more difficult item like film. But this one project shows just how much work will be involved.

The ATM has changed a lot over the past few years. There are bigger screens, more options for how to get your cash, and now the maker Diebold Nixdorf GmbH, a maker of ATMs, is using plexiglass from Röhm GmbH to upgrade its DN line of the machines.

"For this model, we are focusing on high-quality lighting," Peter Golüke, lead engineer for light solutions at Diebold Nixdorf, said in a news release.

The lighting elements are not just a design feature, but also increase security, the companies say.

"The changing colors guide the user throughout the entire transaction," Golüke explains. At the end, for example, the cash dispenser is illuminated so that users do not forget their money.

The "premium" variant of the new DN Series of ATMs comes with customizable color lighting options around the cash dispenser and card reader and on the sideview protectors, using plexiglass.