Kickstart: Baltimore bridge collapse may also lead to turmoil elsewhere

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early on March 26 after it was hit by a cargo ship resulted in six deaths and has shut down the Port of Baltimore, the 17th-largest port in the United States. Data from the state of Maryland notes the port handled 52.3 million tons of imported cargo worth nearly $81 million in 2023.

No one knows yet how long it will take to clear debris from the Patapsco River or reopen the port. The bridge over the Patapsco will take even longer to rebuild.

The single biggest U.S. industry likely to be hit is the auto business. Baltimore handles $27 billion in auto-related imports and another $8 billion in auto exports. By comparison, $2 billion worth of chemicals are imported through Baltimore and $1 billion is exported, according to the Washington Post. Sasol North America has a terminal at the port, as does WR Grace, consulting group ICIS notes.

But the biggest ripple effect may come as cargo ships disperse to other Atlantic Ocean ports until Baltimore reopens.

Adam Yanelli of ICIS writes that a distributor told him the rerouting "will cause severe congestion."

In addition, the bridge was the main route for hazardous materials because those trucks cannot go through the tunnels that cross the river elsewhere in Baltimore.

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A team of packaging students at University of Wisconsin-Stout thought outside the cannister in a competition to redesign the iconic Pringles chip can.

Lukas David, Ethan Myers and Zach Hoffmire took first place against an invitation-only field of eight other university teams from the U.S., Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, UW-Stout said in a news release.

Their idea for a better can? Replace the current multimaterial container with recyclable plastic, molded with a "racetrack" shape that mimics the shape of Pringles.

"Pringles packaging is one of those things that I've always found myself frustrated by but had never thought too far into it," Myers said. "To actually be presented with the prompt, it felt very familiar."

The college notes Pringles-brand owner Kellanova made no promises to use any of the student packaging concepts.

I'm not a dog owner, so let me ask: Do you frequently find yourself running out of poop bags during a regular walk with your pooch?

A California company, Hearth Labs LLC, seems to think this is a problem in need of a solution and is out with 3poo1-brand compostable pet litter bags that are color coded to clearly show how many bags are left in a roll. Most feature green lettering, but they switch to yellow as supplies run low, then red for the last bag.

The company said in a blog post it partnered with an unnamed maker of compostable bags in Santa Ana, Calif., but purchased its own printing equipment. It began selling bags in December 2023.