Kickstart: Plastics and politics head to the state level

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall may not be running for reelection, but he's still on a version of the campaign trail, working with his staff to support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which would ban some single-use plastics, set recycled content requirements, impose packaging recycling mandates and shift more costs to companies.

Udall, D-N.M., spoke to the National Caucus of Environmental Legistors on Aug. 7 in an online National Forum to encourage them to push the Break Free act on a state level, beyond any federal moves.

Udall co-sponsored the bill with Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., and the pair sent a memo to members of NCEL on Aug. 10.

The memo includes guidance for local officials to draft bills for their community based on the guidelines within Break Free From Plastic Pollution.

"We encourage you to use the attached blueprints along with the bill text and our supplemental materials to craft robust legislation for your state. Whatever you decide, we encourage you to build on the great action that has already taken place across the country and to further push for change that will have a lasting impact," the lawmakers wrote.

We've written a few times about Geoff Foster's Core Technology Molding Corp. in Greensboro, N.C., and Publisher Brennan Lafferty spoke to him for his What Keeps You Up At Night podcast.

The company managed to diversify from 100 percent automotive — its central industry when it first launched — to bring in key medical work as the pandemic spread. It has also grown its supply base in appliance and lawn and garden.

Foster was the 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year for the Greensboro Chamber and now is a finalist in Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Southeast for 2020.

The E&Y program is judged by an independent group of CEOs and investors. The winners will be named Oct. 2.

Frank Esposito wrote a blog last week on the return of a very cool '70s toy, the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle, made using the original molds.

Another 1970s toy that returned but really isn't welcome? Lawn darts.

That's right, the metal-tipped throwing game with polypropylene fins has been on sale in the U.S. and Canada up until June 2020.

What's that? You thought they were banned?

Not exactly. During the 1970s, the darts carried a label warning about their use, saying the game wasn't intended for kids. In 1988, with 6,100 emergency room visits related to the darts recorded over the product's lifetime, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Council banned their sale in the U.S. Canada's safety agency followed suit a year later.

But the darts were still available online. A United Kingdom-based company, Crown Darts UK, sold them directly through its website and other online sites. Between 2004 and June 2020, CPSC said in a new recall notice, UK Crown Darts sold 19,400 sets in the U.S. and another 4,048 in Canada.

There have been no injuries reported from the darts, but both the Canadian and U.S. agencies issued a recall notice.

"Crown Darts UK is unable to conduct the recall," CPSC said in a statement. "Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled lawn dart sets and destroy and dispose of them to prevent further usage."