Kickstart: Enough already

It's been a long, long week out there for everyone. I wish we could say that things are about to get easier, but obviously, things may get even more complicated as the full damage from Hurricane Ida — from the Gulf Coast to New England — is still being calculated.

Senior reporter Frank Esposito writes that the closure of plants due to the storm factored in to a 5-cent increase in high density polyethylene resin prices. It probably will also factor into increases in September.

The long-term impact of Ida on production numbers for resin makers in Louisiana is still unknown. Dow Inc. has said it will not be able to restart production at its St. Charles plant until power and other infrastructure is back online. St. Charles Parish, La., officials said Sept. 2 that it may take weeks for power to be restored for residents.

And plastics also are taking hits when it comes to public policy. The California Legislature passed a bill that will make it the first state to limit the export of hard-to-recycle plastics. While the bill doesn't specifically ban exports, it will not allow local communities to claim those materials as being "recycled," Assistant Managing Editor Steve Toloken writes. A ripple effect from that move could lead to decisions along the supply chain to limit the use of those plastics.

Add to that a falling auto sales rate because of computer microchip shortages, and I don't know about you, but a long weekend is certainly welcome. Even if we'll be facing the same issues after Labor Day.

There's a new word out there in the COVID-19 vaccination debate: "vexcluded."

The term is being adopted by some people who don't want to get a COVID vaccination and who are also running up against a rising number of restrictions for nonvaccinated individuals, according to a Bloomberg report in our sister paper Crain's Chicago Business.

Concert venues, sports arenas, public buildings and other sites have been requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for entry — and some of those sites aren't allowing people to opt out by showing a negative test.

Increasingly, employers also are requiring vaccinations.

Consulting firm Willis Towers Watson says that as of the end of August, 52 percent of employers in a survey plan to have a mandate of some kind by the end of 2021.

"These [mandates] range from requiring vaccination for employees to access common areas such as cafeterias to requiring vaccination for a subset of employees to requiring vaccination for all employees," Willis Tower Watson writes. Currently, only 21 percent of employers have a mandate in place.

The rising delta variant plus final authorization of the Pfizer vaccine are prompting the rule changes.

Additional findings: 80 percent of employers require masks indoors; 75 percent use some kind of workplace exposure tracking; and nearly 40 percent do not expect a normal return to the workplace until the second quarter of 2022.

But in a sign of one thing that is mostly normal — but with a twist, like much of the past 18 months — the IAA Mobility auto show begins next week in Germany. Rather than its familiar home of Frankfurt, the show has moved to Munich, a move planned before COVID.

IAA has been one of the big global auto shows and served as a centerpiece for product launches by both automakers and global Tier 1 suppliers.

The first IAA in Munich was set to take place in 2020, but even though it is delayed a year, it will still host major new vehicle introductions including electric vehicles.

The show begins Sept. 7 with media events.