Supply Chain

Brussels – September 19, 2026 -- A global 5% cap on virgin plastics production would cut global household welfare by $128.4 billion, compared with just a $0.5 billion decline under targeted recycling policies achieving the same reduction in plastic leakage, according to a new Oxford Economics study commissioned by the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA).

The report, Evaluating Policy Pathways to End Plastic Pollution, is the second phase of Oxford Economics' analysis for ICCA, following its 2024 study Mapping the Plastics Value Chain.

Hong Kong – September 19, 2026 -- ViaBTC, a global multi-cryptocurrency mining pool, has partnered with Mempool to expand access to Bitcoin transaction acceleration services, deploying its mining pool infrastructure to help unconfirmed BTC transactions get processed faster.

ViaBTC has accelerated more than 800,000 BTC transactions since 2016

Bitcoin transactions can stall for extended periods when network congestion rises or fees are set too low. ViaBTC became one of the first providers to launch a Bitcoin transaction accelerator in 2016, offering both free and paid options, and has refined the technology since. As of September 19, 2026, the company has processed acceleration requests for over 800,000 BTC transactions.

Detroit – September 19, 2026 -- Caracal Products & Services has appointed Jim Wheeler, a healthcare sales strategist with more than 34 years of industry experience, as its new Vice President of National Sales.

Wheeler brings three decades of health system account management to Caracal's distribution business

Wheeler most recently supported business development and sales at Concordance Healthcare Solutions, where he worked with integrated health systems across Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, providing consulting services aimed at reducing costs and increasing revenue for those systems.

Caracal CEO says hire targets deeper customer alignment on medical products

Caracal President and CEO Donald Roberts said Wheeler's health care sales background positions him to work closely with customers on product selection suited to their operating environments.

Paris – September 19, 2026 -- Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) has been selected by Intuitive Machines to provide ground station and satellite operations support for NASA's EAGLE VSWIR mission, targeted for launch in 2028.

KSAT will operate the IM 300 spacecraft carrying JPL's VSWIR instrument

The Explorer for Artemis Geology, Lunar, and Earth mission will host NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Visible to Shortwave Infrared instrument aboard Intuitive Machines' IM 300 spacecraft. The sensor will measure ground and water temperature, snow reflectivity, active geologic processes, vegetation traits, and algal biomass, while also testing technology relevant to future lunar and Mars exploration.

Austin, Texas – September 19, 2026 -- Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB) will unveil new products with what it calls new-to-industry performance during the keynote of its seventh annual Works With Summit, scheduled for October 6-7 at ACL Live at the Moody Theater and the company's Austin headquarters.

CEO Matt Johnson leads October 7 keynote with CTO and software chief

Silicon Labs President and CEO Matt Johnson will open the October 7 keynote, joined by Daniel Cooley, senior vice president and chief technology officer, and Manish Kothari, senior vice president of software development. The executives will outline the technology, AI tools and ecosystem collaboration required to scale intelligent connected systems as devices become more deeply integrated into homes, businesses and infrastructure.

Houston – September 19, 2026 -- Caturus LLC has unveiled a five-train, 7.75 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) expansion of its Commonwealth LNG export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, a move that would nearly double the site's planned capacity to approximately 17.25 Mtpa.

Expansion follows a $9.75 billion financing close four months after final investment decision

The expansion comes just four months after Caturus reached final investment decision on the original six-train, 9.5 Mtpa Commonwealth LNG facility, which closed $9.75 billion in base project financing. Construction on that base project is on schedule for 2030 operations, with 8.5 Mtpa of its 9.5 Mtpa capacity already locked under long-term sale and purchase agreements.

New Smyrna Beach, Fla. – September 19, 2026 -- Florida gubernatorial candidate Frank J. Russo has called on Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg to personally commit $250 million and help raise an additional $1 billion from Florida billionaires to modernize the state's data center infrastructure.

The challenge expands Russo's Florida Data Center Community Responsibility Act, proposing a voluntary Florida Data Center Modernization Fund structured as a public trust independent of government control. Russo cited Zuckerberg's reported $170 million South Florida home purchase as justification for the ask, framing it as a matter of civic responsibility tied to residency.

Calabasas, Calif. – September 19, 2026 -- Faye has launched a new integration connecting Intercom and Oracle NetSuite, allowing support, sales, and success teams to view a customer's financial history directly inside Intercom without switching platforms.

Integration eliminates the finance-data bottleneck for support reps

Support agents previously had to escalate billing or order questions to finance teams because that data lived outside Intercom. Faye's integration syncs contact, company, and financial records between NetSuite and Intercom automatically, reducing tool-switching and back-and-forth between departments.

Gary, Ind. – September 19, 2026 -- Indiana American Water has opened a $2.2 million training center in Gary, bringing the company's total infrastructure and workforce investment in the city to nearly $38 million.

New facility trains workers in real-world water infrastructure scenarios

The training center, located at 650 Madison Street near Borman Park, is designed as an outdoor "mini-city" where employees practice excavation and shoring, utility locating, traffic control, water main tapping, service line work, confined-space procedures, meter installation, and hydrant and water main repair before performing the work in live communities.

Mexico City – September 19, 2026 -- Ferrovalle, operator of one of Mexico's largest inland rail freight hubs, has selected INFORM's Syncrotess Optimization Plus software to power a Smart Yard automation initiative at its Mexico City terminal, with go-live targeted for June 2027. Ferrovalle's intermodal division handled around 550,000 TEUs in 2025, ranking it among Latin America's largest inland intermodal operations. The contract was signed in early September 2026.