Kickstart: Plastics and the blue crab

Microplastics isn't just something affecting the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or similar spots in other oceans.

The University of Delaware, with help from a $325,000 federal grant, is looking at how beads, fleece particles and other tiny bits of plastic are affecting the Delaware Bay.

Special attention is going to the grounds where blue crabs are fished. The crabs are a $15 million business to the Delaware economy, the university says.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's marine debris program was started in 2006 to investigate and mitigate the impact of marine debris.

"Our science team is eager to learn about the impact of microplastics on blue crabs at the early stages of development through maturity," said NOAA's Christy Kehoe.

When Visteon first spun off from Ford Motor Co. in 2000, the former captive parts maker has 81,000 employees and $20 billion in sales. It was the second largest auto supplier in North America.

But that was then.

The company sold off complete divisions and massive plants, including the massive Saline, Mich., injection molding site now owned by Faurecia.

Visteon has dropped to No. 80 in Automotive News' most recent ranking of suppliers, with about $3 billion in global sales.

And the Detroit suburb of Van Buren Township has filed suit, again, against Visteon to try to recoup some of its costs into a headquarters campus Visteon opened when it had 4,000 employees at the site where it now has 1,000.

Sure Frank Esposito claims that he's only the Mr. Plastic of his block, but we all know he's got lots of information. And what he doesn't know, Don Loepp does.

Starting at 1 p.m. (Eastern) today, you can check in with them in PN's final Plastics News Live of the year to get an outlook on materials for 2020.

Expect to hear more about the Shell plant being built in Pennsylvania, the impact of tariffs and the general economy. Register here.