Candy and toothbrushes would seem to come from completely different product development streams, but in a recent conversation on The Landscape podcast with our sister publication Crain’s Cleveland Business, Bill Nottingham, a managing partner and vice president of growth at Nottingham Spirk, says the two are very closely related, and not just when it comes to cavities.The Cleveland product development and design group has been involved in developing toys for Little Tikes and vacuums for the Swiffer brand, so it knows something about successful product launches. Nottingham said the company began by noticing sales growth for the higher-end Mentadent toothbrush.”At the time, we were making a spinning lollipop for $5 and we said, ‘I wonder if we could make an electric toothbrush for under $5,'” Nottingham said.The product first went on the market in a limited area as Dr. John’s Spinbrush, giving Nottingham Spirk an opportunity to tweak the plastics when there were problems with bristles coming loose. The Spinbrush is now part of Procter & Gamble’s product line.”At the time, [Spinbrush launched], 3 percent of toothbrushes were powered and now it’s 30 percent,” Nottingham said.You can at the Crain’s Cleveland Business website or via regular streaming providers.We come across stories quite often on companies installing solar panels to help reduce their electricity costs. The solar panels going up at Toray Plastics America Inc.’s plant in North Kingston, R.I., will be sending collected energy to the local power grid to provide enough energy for 120 homes.Toray is leasing roof space to Distributed Solar Development for more than 1,300 solar panels at its Torayfan polypropylene film plant.”[The panels] will enable the generation of 700,000 kilowatt hours of energy,” .Toray initially approached solar energy company SolarKal about the project and noted that in addition to the power being collected and generated, Toray is receiving funds from the lease that will “provide us with income that we can use to continue to help build a circular economy,” John Eustis, vice president of U.S. group procurement for Toray, said in the release. Toray is No. 22 in Plastics News’ ranking of North American film and sheet suppliers, with an estimated $405 million in sales in the area. Good news! The 12-foot Plastic skeleton that was the hit of home Halloween decorations in 2020 proved so popular that Home Depot created a companion for it this year. Bad news? Both the original skeleton and the new 12-foot Inferno Pumpkin Skeleton are already sold out.Lance Allen, the decorative holiday Home Depot project leader, said his team always knew “Skelly” would be a hit in 2020, so it began early to try and top it in 2021.Rather than the straightforward giant skeleton of 2020, which was essentially a scaled-up human skeleton, , the Inferno Pumpkin Skeleton has a more artistic twist. The bones are replaced with plastics sculpted to look like rotting pumpkin vines. Integrated lighting in the chest is added to the bright blue eyes within the pumpkin skull.At $299, the Inferno Pumpkin has the same price tag as Skelly, but it sold out in mid-July, shortly after it went on sale.  Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you’d like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at Please enter a valid email address.Please enter your email address.Please verify captcha.Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe. Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge. Subscribe to Plastics News Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.Customer Service: