Kickstart: A sustainable Swiss Miss

The next time you reach for a hot beverage, you may find something that will warm you up and be a little greener.

For one example, packaging giant Berry Global Group has teamed with Conagra Brands to create a recyclable plastic container for Swiss Miss hot cocoa mix made with an in-mold label in a cube shape that reduces the carbon footprint for the drink.

The cube is easier to pack and ship in bulk compared with the company's tube-shaped package, which cuts the carbon use by 15 percent, the companies said in a news release on the new package.

The lower footprint is the equivalent to avoiding the emissions of driving a vehicle 243,176 miles, they said.

Meanwhile, McDonald's is partnering with TerraCycle's Loop recycling program in a pilot program at its United Kingdom restaurants for reusable cups.

Customers can opt to pay a deposit for a durable cup, which will then be returned and the deposit redeemed. The cup will be cleaned by Loop and put back into use.

Automakers are putting a lot of emphasis on electric vehicles. Our sister paper Automotive News has stories online currently about a "family" of EV drive systems at General Motors Co., Volkswagen's plans for EVs in its future product lineup, Kia's first-ever dedicated EV offering and GM's demands that Cadillac dealers invest heavily in EV infrastructure.

So why is a key link in the electric car supply chain looking to spin off its battery business?

South Korea-based LG Chem said early today that the timing was right to separate the business, which competes with China's CATL and Japan's Panasonic, as it has started to make "structural profits" in its car battery business.

The new business, to be launched in December, aims to achieve a revenue of 30 trillion won ($25.5 billion) or more in 2024, from an expected revenue of 13 trillion won this year.

Considering that LG is a major supplier to Tesla and Volkswagen and is partnering with GM on a battery cell manufacturing plant in Lordstown, Ohio, whatever happens with the battery business will likely make news.

Hurricane Sally seems to have passed by most plastics operations on the Gulf Coast, making landfall on Wednesday to the east of most plastics and chemical plants in the region.

Consulting firm ICIS said most plants in the area kept an eye on the storm but continued  normal operations.

Heavy rains associated with the slow-moving Category 2 storm have hit communities along the Alabama and Florida state line and into Pensacola and other areas in the Florida Panhandle. The resut is what emergency management leaders in the area are calling historic flooding. Damage from the storm took out a major bridge near Pensacola.

ICIS noted forecasters expect areas of Alabama and Georgia could see 8 inches of rain from the storm as it makes its way across land.