Kickstart: Bring your own bottle

There was something missing at a July 13 U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing related to the budget for the Department of the Interior for 2023: water bottles.

As Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., noted at the start of the hearing when introducing Secretary Deb Haaland, the subcommittee is eliminating single-use bottles at its hearings.

"And I mention that simply because plastic is becoming an issue that the department ... is dealing with, that America is dealing with, that the world is dealing with because it is impacting our lands, our oceans, our wildlife, even our own bodies and because, Secretary Haaland, under your leadership the Interior Department is taking steps to address the issue of plastic pollution," Merkley said.

The White House said June 8 that Haaland will oversee a plan to phase out the sale of single-use bottles and packaging on public lands over the next 10 years.

Eliminating single-use bottles, typically arrayed on witness tables at every hearing, is one small way of acknowledging the work to cut back on plastics, Merkley said.

Haaland did not mention single-use plastics at her presentation, but a video from C-SPAN of the hearing does show her carefully placing her own reusable water bottle on the table at the start of the session.

More battery plants for electric vehicles are on their way in the U.S.

On July 14, Ford Motor Co. and South Korean battery maker SK On Co., part of materials supplier SK Innovation, announced they had finalized its joint venture, BlueOval SK LLC, that will build a battery plant for EVs in Tennessee and two facilities in Kentucky.

South Korean battery makers, including SK On, have announced plans for a combined $5.5 billion in investments in the U.S. this year.

Just a few days earlier, Japan's Panasonic Holdings Corp. said it will spend $4 billion to build an EV battery plant in De Soto, Kan., that could create up to 4,000 jobs. The site in the suburbs of Kansas City will supply high-capacity batteries for Tesla Inc.

The pen and marker maker Uniball Corp. is redefining itself following the end of a distribution deal with industrial giant Newell Inc.

The company, part of Japan's Mitsubishi Pencil, makes plastic pens and other writing implements under the Uniball, Posca and Emott brands but says it will now be known simply as "Uni."

"Uni is more than a name change. It's a fresh commitment to our future that will widely expand our portfolio of product solutions in the writing, art and creativity market segments," President Mike Parker said in a news release. "It's a reinvigorated vision, steeped within our rich 135-year legacy of quality, craftsmanship and commitment to our customers."

As part of the rebranding, our sister paper Advertising Age writes, the company has launched a new marketing campaign that will focus on creativity to give new life to the old brand.