Kickstart: Dropping a boom on trash that flows past international borders

When it rains in northern Mexico, coastal regions in southern California may end up with higher levels of plastic debris and other trash. That's because rivers, creeks and hillsides don't pay attention to national borders.

An international environmental group, Wildcoast, is using floating nets, or booms, along waterways in Tijuana, Mexico, to collect rubbish that is swept away in storms and ends up in the water just north of the border.

San Diego-based Wildcoast has set out to collect the trash with a floating boom that has stopped almost 240,000 pounds of plastics and trash out of waterways. It recently received permission for a second boom system in the area, local TV station KSWB reports.

The second boom is expected to halt another 80,000 pounds of trash, the group said on social media.

"These trash booms are a very economical way ... of having a big impact because we stop plastics, tires and we plan to do more because we see the impact," Wildcoast spokeswoman Fay Crevoshay told KSWB.

Just up the California coast in Los Angeles, county officials are taking a very different tack when it comes to pollution and plastics, filing a suit against Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. alleging the two companies are top sources of litter that the county must clean up.

As Plastics News' Steve Toloken writes, the suit also accuses them of making misleading promises about recycling while delaying deadlines to reduce their use of virgin plastics.

The county's legal action seeks to limit the marketing and advertising language the companies can use around recycling and other environmental claims, Steve notes.

The suit is similar to legal action taken in 2022 by California Attorney General Rob Bonta accusing the plastics industry of misleading the public over recycling as well as a lawsuit against PepsiCo from New York Attorney General Letitia James. Bonta also has launched a lawsuit against ExxonMobil related to plastics, recycling and sustainability.

Altair Engineering Inc.'s software has been used to help molders design tooling, select specific materials, run simulations and develop prototypes. It's used by OEMs from end markets including automotive, medical and aerospace. It's even helped design America's Cup racing yachts and is the sponsor of an annual award for automotive lightweighting that has helped to promote the potential of plastics in cars and trucks.

Turns out that's a very attractive business to be in, with the Troy, Mich.-based company signing a deal to be acquired by Siemens AG for $10 billion, including debt. The deal is expected to close in 2025. In addition to its work with Ford, GM, Stellantis and Boeing, its software has been used to develop yachts for America's Cup races.

Altair Engineering, by the way, is a separate company from Altair Investments Inc., the Chicago-based private equity owner of plastics processing supplier Xaloy.