Kickstart: The season of pumpkin spice lattes and inflation

When Starbucks launched its Pumpkin Spice Latte season this week, the seasonal drink returned with a price that reflects a global trend: higher prices.

In 2022, a grande-size PSL will cost you 4 percent more at Starbucks than in 2021. (I'm not trying to single out Starbucks, but it's a handy example of what consumers may see.) CNN Business notes that the price hike for the seasonal drink reflects other prices increases linked to inflation throughout 2022 that has driven up costs for everything that goes into a cup and of course the cups, glasses and other foodservice items.

While consumers may notice a higher price at their local store, though, a potential tidal wave of higher prices is looming for industries.

The German plastics packaging association IK is warning that its members are looking at energy costs rising more than 300 percent in the coming months due to natural gas shortages expected as Russia limits the flow of natural gas to Europe.

"So far, most of our member companies have managed to pass on at least some of the drastically increased energy costs to their customers. ... But that will change in the next few months if energy prices remain at the same level or continue to rise," warned Martin Engelmann, general manager for IK, in a story written by Karen Laird of our sister paper Sustainable Plastics.

Obviously, fans of pumpkin spice lattes can cut back on their trips to Starbucks to keep their costs down. Packaging makers in Europe —especially Germany — won't find it so easy to cut their costs.

What if you could unlock your car with a glance, just as you can unlock a smartphone?

Spanish auto supplier Grupo Antolin is working with Trinamix GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF SE, on a way to integrate Trinamix's "face authentication" capabilities with its own smart surfaces technology for advanced human machine interface (HMI) systems.

Potentially, Antolin says in a news release, the combination of software and hardware could authenticate drivers based on their facial features as soon as they get close to their car.

Obviously, this won't be easy. Anyone who has had problems unlocking their phone because they're wearing a different pair of glasses knows there are a lot of issues to work out. But it'll be interesting to see where the effort leads.

I wonder if the actor Jason Momoa has had problems with face recognition since he buzzed off his long hair in a move he said on an Instagram post is linked to cutting the use of single-use plastics.

In a Sept. 5 Instagram post, Momoa talks about single-use plastics that end up in landfills or oceans.

"I'm doing it for single-use plastics," he says. "I'm tired of these plastic bottles. We've gotta stop. … I'm just seeing some things in our ocean, it's just so sad."

Momoa doesn't say how the haircut and single-use plastics are connected in the video, but he's been a proponent of optional materials. His Hawaii-based water brand, Mananalu, uses a resealable aluminum container. He's also been a spokesman for Ball Corp. and its aluminum alternatives to Solo Corp. red plastic cups and in the video also encouraged the use of refillable bottles.