Kickstart: Public policy, sports and chemicals

What does a struggling energy and materials sector in Europe have to do with cuts to New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team? According to Ineos Group, the United Kingdom-based chemical company that has a sponsorship deal with the All Blacks, it's all about the bottom line.

"Trading conditions for our European businesses have been severely impacted by high energy costs and extreme carbon taxes, along with much of the chemicals industry in Europe, which is struggling or shutting down. We are witnessing the deindustrialization of Europe," Ineos said earlier this month. "As a result, we have had to implement cost-saving measures across the business."

That includes rugby.

New Zealand Rugby filed a suit against Ineos related to the company's decision to pull back funding three years into a six-year sponsorship deal.

And rugby isn't the only sport to face reductions in the face of economic hardships for Ineos. The company's founder and billionaire leader, Jim Ratcliffe, also has a controlling stake in Manchester United of the U.K.'s Premiere League. That team just announced it was cutting more than 200 jobs among its staff — the second set of cuts since Ratcliffe took over.

Ratcliffe and Ineos have long criticized public policies by the European Union to respond to climate change. Extending the business issues to sports teams builds on it.

On Feb. 26, EU leaders announced plans to focus on ways to decarbonize industries in the region "profitably," by supporting efforts with a $100 billion fund. Ratcliffe responded with a letter saying "chemicals in Europe is facing extinction."

"Decarbonizing Europe by deindustrialization is idiotic," Ratcliffe said in the release. "We lose jobs and security, and the CO2 simply floats back over Europe anyway."

Sherwin-Williams is giving up the paint bucket in favor of a pouch made by Mondi.

The pouch contains concentrated paint, meant to be mixed with on-site to fill a 5-liter bucket. It's available only in the United Kingdom.

Mondi says the flexible option reduces packaging waste and provides ease of use to outdoor painting projects, along with minimizing the space needed to transport and store paint. The pouches also take up less space on retail shelves.

In a news release, Sherwin-Williams officials said the packaging reduces plastic usage by 90 percent vs. a rigid plastic container.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans this year is making it easier for visitors to recycle beads and other items thrown from floats during the city's many parades.

In 2025, the French Quarter Management District is sponsoring free bead recycling sites at 15 downtown hotels, expanding a two-year-old pilot program. And there are a lot of beads available for collection. In 2024, the Recycle Dat coalition collected 12,697 pounds of beads and other throws, up from 11,535 in 2023. The group also collected 236 pounds of plastic bottles.

New Orleans isn't the only town with a Mardi Gras or an overwhelming number of beads in need of safe disposal. In Mobile, Ala., students at Augusta Evans School collected, sorted, tagged and packaged 1,574 pounds of beads for a fundraiser.