Kickstart: Lighting the way for EVs

Picture a car that lights up as you walk toward it. And no, I'm not talking about Knight Rider's KITT.

This car is Volkswagen's new ID.3 electric car, intended to be a new standard bearer for the German company. And it is using plexiglass in its lighting system to help it stand out.

Material supplier Röhm GmbH is supplying the plastics used to provide a "warm welcome" to drivers. Walk up to the car and the headlights turn on as a greeting.

"I am always touched how light creates an emotional attachment between humans and cars," Sandra Sturmat, who designs how light behaves in the Volkswagen User Experience Design Team, said in a news release from Röhm. For example, "opening its eyes and looking at you" are typical characteristics of the Volkswagen ID family.

While I'm not sure if having a car look at me is exactly what I want in my next car, VW and Röhm say future developments of electric and autonomous vehicles will put an even stronger emphasis on smart lighting. For instance, an LED strip may be able to let pedestrians know that it is safe to cross a street.

(You can see the welcome lighting system in this video from VW.)

In the latest sign of how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted plastics companies, toymaker Lego A/S says its consumer sales grew 14 percent in the first half of 2020 compared with 2019.

"When COVID-19 closed stores and offices, our colleagues did everything they could to stay safe and bring play to children and families around the world," CEO Niels B. Christiansen said in a news release.

With some retailers curtailing operating hours and supply channels impacted, Lego said its own e-commerce platform and global manufacturing capabilities proved capable of responding to a changing marketplace.

But it wasn't just about sales, the Danish company said. Lego launched the "Let's Build Together" digital platform to provide learning to children unable to attend regular classes. The company said the program reached more than 80 million unique users globally.

In addition, Lego converted injection molding machines to make more than 500,000 face shields for front-line workers and donated more than 250,000 Lego sets to children in need.

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste has always had a big job facing it as it works to use contributions from the plastics industry and consumer brands to stop bottles, bags and other items from becoming pollution.

COVID-19 certainly isn't helping.

As Steve Toloken writes, AEPW's new report outlining its work since 2019 mentions collection programs in Southeast Asia where a lack of waste collection programs leads to pollution from a range of sources.

Now add personal protective equipment — such as masks and gloves — to that mix. Some places in Thailand have seen a sixfold increase in waste generated during COVID-19.

"There's an even bigger urgency in COVID," Jacob Duer, president and CEO of AEPW, said. "In countries where you don't have proper waste management systems in place, either because they're nonexistent or because they're broken, simply more waste accumulates in the environment, including plastic waste."