Kickstart: A greener way to ski

Italian material supplier RadiciGroup is taking sustainability to the slopes.

The Bergamo-based company has teamed with technical sportswear company DKB to create a ski suit — both a jacket and pants — made of recycled nylon and with nylon zippers, buttons and Velcro closures to make it easier to recycle.

The suit's fabric is made from Radici's Rencycle yarn, sourced from mechnically recycled nylon. The recycled content also reduces energy and water consumption during manufacturing, the company said in a news release.

The "almost monomaterial garment" can easily be recycled into ski boot components and bindings to give it continued life in the sport.

"I've always loved mountaineering and skiing, and, together with my collaborators, I work hard at our company day in and day out to find innovative solutions that improve the sustainability of our industry," Radici President Angelo Radici said in the release. "This ski suit is concrete proof of the fact that textiles and apparel can be made sustainable without compromising on comfort, design, looks or performance."

As we head into the Thanksgiving weekend here in the U.S., let's take note of a program created to give support to plastics processors as they develop new products.

Geon Performance Solutions' Project Collaboration worked with more than 50 small and midsized companies on custom formulations, mold design support for health care and medical devices, accelerated pilot compounding and supply chain improvements, said John Hammer, global marketing director for the Westlake, Ohio-based Geon.

"We offered our expertise at no cost to help bring solutions and products to market," Hammer said.

In one case, PN's Frank Esposito writes, Geon made and produced a transparent PVC compound within three weeks for Goex Corp., an extrusion firm in Janesville, Wis., that used the material to make medical face shields. Geon donated 40,000 pounds of the compound to Goex for the project and then donated 60,000 of the shields to hospitals, first responders, schools and businesses in Ohio.

Geon received a Social Impact Award from the Vinyl Sustainability Council for its work.

DuPont Co. is joining with the Delaware Department of Education and Discovery Education in what it terms a "first-of-its-kind partnership" to increase student access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) resources.

The program, unveiled Nov. 22, will support students and schools with instructional materials geared at career and technical education paths.

"Connecting what is being taught in the classroom to Delaware employers is critical," said Luke Rhine, director, career and technical education and STEM initiatives at the education department. "The resources provided through this partnership will support middle school and high school teachers as they build bridges between classrooms and careers for all students."

The partnership allows DuPont to take a "leadership role helping to develop a stronger, more diverse, equitable and inclusive talent pipeline to fill critically needed STEM jobs across the U.S.," the Wilmington, Del.-based company said.

Delaware teachers will also have access to training programs to help them work with students on STEM programs.