Let’s cut up some potatoes in the Veg-O-Matic, take our Pocket Fisherman out to the lake and tell passersby via our Mr. Microphone that we’ll be back to pick them up later to mark the life of Ron Popeil, who did more to promote Plastic gadgets to late-night TV viewers than we can imagine.Popeil, who began by selling the Chop-O-Matic invented by his father and went on to found his own company, Ronco, died July 28 at the age of 86.Popeil first made his fame though short TV ads, but in the late 1980s he developed an hourlong program for his food dehydrator and ran it on small local TV stations across the U.S., creating the infomercial.”The products chopped, charred, shined, sharpened, cleaned, massaged, folded a fishing rod into a pocket and covered bald spots with a spray can,” . “He sold them all without shouting, a folksy, calming presence that made half-hour infomercials their own form of entertainment as he demonstrated the product and set up testimonials from the audience.” Parker Hannifin Corp., a Cleveland-based supplier of plastic and rubber tubing, seals and filtration materials, has set its sights on being carbon neutral within 20 years. It is including improvements from its supply base as part of the plan.The plan, , has set a three-step process to reach its goal. First it will “reduce absolute” emissions from its own operations and indirect emissions from energy purchases by 50 percent by 2030, then completely eliminate them by 2040.In addition, indirect emissions related to its purchased materials, logistics and services are targeted for a 15 percent reduction by 2030 and 25 percent by 2040.”Our technologies enable customers around the world to be cleaner and more efficient, and this commitment to reducing our own carbon emissions is another important step we are taking to create a more sustainable future for generations to come,” Chairman and CEO Tom Williams said in a news release. Clarios International Inc., the automotive battery business previously owned by Johnson Controls Inc., is pulling back from its plans for an initial public offering.Clarios’ operations include in-house injection molding for polypropylene battery cases. The company says its batteries are used in a third of all cars in the world.JCI sold the business to Brookfield Business Partners LP in 2019. On July 20, the company announced it was starting the process of with more than 88 million shares in the company to be sold. But Bloomberg that the process is on hold “indefinitely” because of market conditions. 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 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: