Kickstart: Just when you think you know the rules for recycling in China

First there was Green Fence. Then National Sword.

New policies regarding the importing of recycled plastic in China may not have a snazzy new name yet, but Steve Wong, the president of the China Scrap Plastic Association, says it's just as likely to force changes in the industry.

Wong — who is also CEO of Fukutomi Recycling Ltd. — said the new policies target recycled resin coming into China.

The resin will have to meet specific quality standards. That means that companies who have invested in recycling facilities elsewhere in the world, so they could ship recycled pellets from those sites to China, may have to change their business plans again.

Expect the shakeout to continue, Steve Toloken writes.

A lot of shops have voluntarily gone single-use bag free. A new specialty market from Midwest retailer Meijer is joining that trend, but with a twist.

While shoppers of the new Woodward Corner Market in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak, Mich., will not be able to get a free bag, their only two choices to buy will lean heavily on recycled plastic. For 10 cents, they can buy a thicker, reusable low density polyethylene bag, made of 80 percent recycled content. Or for $1 they can buy a black PE tote, specially designed with a logo to echo the Motor City heritage.

But that's not all. Both bags are fully recyclable through a collection point at the front of the store, so shoppers can easily turn their bags back into bags.

While most publications out there are turning to the 1967 movie "The Graduate" and its famous line about plastics in their stories about the death of screenwriter and actor Buck Henry, I'd prefer to take another route.

Yes, we've all heard that line. Again and again and again. Often misquoted or at a minimum misunderstood. (It's a metaphor.)

Instead, I'd like to recall a different image brought to us by Henry, who died Jan. 8 at age 89. And that is from the TV show "Get Smart," which brought us the hapless Maxwell Smart, the far more capable Agent 99 and the Chief. It was also the home of the Shoe Phone (was that really that far off from the camera phone?) the best plastic prop gag on the show: The Cone of Silence.

Every now and then, Max would insist the Chief bring down the Cone of Silence, and the large, clear, plastic (acrylic? polycarbonate? Who knows?) dome which would cover both of their heads and ... well, just check it out for yourself.

And if Editor Don Loepp thought I'd really stress "The Graduate?" Sorry about that Chief.