Kickstart: Hearing directly from the experts

Steve Toloken has already brought Plastics News readers details on the second round of the plastics treaty negotiations that took place in Paris.

Now you can hear directly from key players in those talks with a series of podcasts now available via Plastics News Radio. (Some of you may recall PN's podcasts in the past. We've revived them for this special content.)

During the talks hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme, Steve spoke with plastics industry representatives, lobbyists and environmental groups. The podcasts, which are live now at plasticsnews.com and anywhere you get your podcasts, allow PN's business-oriented audience a more detailed look at where the treaty is headed.

Common themes emerge, Steve notes. There's general agreement on having some sort of language about extended producer responsibility, designing packaging for recycling and standards about what is recyclable.

But there are some big differences, he adds, around topics such as chemical recycling and whether virgin fossil-based plastic production should be limited.

"Historic and catastrophic" flooding in the Northeast is likely to impact residents and businesses in the area for some time.

Up to 9 inches of rain has fallen in New York's Adirondacks and Hudson Valley and in parts of Vermont, including its capital of Montpelier, washing out roads, destroying railroad infrastructure and shutting down some businesses.

"We expect more rain later this week, which will have nowhere to go in the oversaturated ground," Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said in a July 11 news briefing. "This is nowhere near over."

Plastics News has reached out to some companies in the area. Larry Hovish, director of communications at Mack Molding Co., with five Vermont facilities, said four of its locations were untouched and operating normally. There was some damage to a site in Cavendish, he said, but with "little to no" damage to equipment and inventory, although due to road conditions employees couldn't make it to work.

If you know of companies in the area dealing with flooding — or extreme heat in the Southwest — feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or share steps you're taking to help your communities.

Let's take a look at a different kind of DEI: The Disability Equality Index.

The index, run by the nonprofit groups Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities, measures how companies do in hiring, promoting and supporting workers with disabilities, neurodivergent individuals or caretakers of people with disabilities. Companies that receive scores of at least 80 are recognized as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion.

The 2023 index covered 485 participating corporations, a 17 percent increase from 2022. That includes materials company Covestro LLC, which had a goal of hitting a perfect 100 ranking on each of the six categories ranked in the index after finishing with five 100s and one 99 in 2022.

The company said its Covestro Accessibility Resource Effort (CARE) employee resource group took specific aim at improving that score to bring the score for "enterprisewide access" up to match the others, the company said in a news release.