Kickstart: 'An epic fail' to update plastics legislation in Massachusetts

Environmental groups expected legislators in Massachusetts to pass an updated climate action bill that would update the state's bottle deposit legislation and enact bans on plastic bags. But the two-year legislative term ended Aug. 1 with state officials unable to pass a bill.

"I can't tell you how many meetings I had — literally dozens, if not hundreds of meetings — with legislators over the past two years who were enthusiastic about getting something done this session on climate, on plastic, on the bottle bill," Kristie Pecci of advocacy group Just Zero told public broadcasting's WGBH. "And to have such an epic fail, it's just really disappointing knowing that so many folks were so into it."

In a news release, Just Zero said Massachusetts won't be able to move forward with recycling infrastructure improvements without first updating its bottle bill.

"Massachusetts now arguably has the worst bottle bill in the country," Pecci said in the release. "We only return 36 percent of redeemable bottles and cans. Our system still doesn't include nips (single-serve alchohol bottles), liquor, wine, water or juice containers, and it only has a 5-cent deposit."

The gold medalists for both the men's and women's mountain bike races at the Paris Olympic games just gave plastic spokes a winning spotlight.

Both Tom Pidcock of Great Britain and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of France rode bikes using spokes made by Minnesota-based Berd LLC using Dyneema-brand ultrahigh molecular weight polyethyene. The spokes especially stand out in races because they are white. They also come in about 200 grams lighter than more traditional lightweight metals.

"… Those white spokes and wheels have just been ridden to back-to-back Olympic mountain bike titles, which isn't a bad track record," Tom Wieckowski writes for CyclingNews.com.

If Berd sounds familiar, PN first mentioned the company and its spokes in 2020 when it was one of 10 technology startups to receive funding from the Launch Minnesota Innovation Grants.

Does your date of birth affect your preferred container dispenser system? Earlier this year, Silgan Holdings Corp. posted its take on take on how astrology affects your choice in sprays as part of a blog for International Fragrance Week.

Silgan has been making big investments for its dispensing and specialty closures business, including striking a deal to buy Weener Plastic Holdings last month. PN's Jim Johnson writes more acquisitions are on the way.

It's pretty obvious the astrology-themed blog post was intended for fun — or "a capitvating journey into the area of self-expression and personal enhancement," as Silgan puts it. But someone put effort into matching zodiac signs with Silgan's dispenser offerings.

For what it's worth, the blog says we Leos lean toward Silgan's XD 11 Panache fragrance pump: "Leos are associated with opulence and grandeur, making [it] a no-brainer for this one-of-a-kind sign."