Plastics are showing up in unusual applications these days, as businesses reopen but need products to protect employees and customers from the coronavirus.

Two unusual examples popped up yesterday. First, in an application near to my heart, the Atlantis became the first casino in Reno, Nev., to reopen its buffet restaurant. The Reno Gazette Journal reported how the buffet is using plastic barriers to separate hungry patrons from the food, while still having the ability to fill up their plates. There's a two-hour time limit on grazing, according to the story, which seems reasonable. If you can't fill up on lo mein, baked fish, fried shrimp and tacos, you're not trying. The second story comes from nearby Las Vegas, where the Venetian Resort (although they capitalize "The," like that school in Columbus, Ohio) has set up what it calls a first-in-the-nation program in the hospitality industry to recycle surgical face masks. The casino is working with TerraCycle Inc. to collect and send used masks to a recycling facility. They'll eventually end up as composite lumber, used for products like decking. TerraCycle's expertise is finding ways to handle difficult-to-recycle material streams, like juice pouches and cigarette butts.