Design of biodegradable bioplastics utilizing hemp

In last few year, due to bad impression, single used plastics has received huge attention from scientist, environmentalist and attentive people from different part of the world. Since only a fraction of these plastics are recycled or repurposed, due to numerous reasons, municipal and industrial waste contain a large portion as plastics. As Canada is planning to put a ban on single used plastics by the end of 2021, putting an effort to replace these plastics with bio-based, compostable, and biodegradable plastics could be a potential solution. Proposed work targets to develop a bio-derived, cost effective, and biodegradable packaging and containment material by incorporating waste hemp residues in a co-blend polymer derived from agriculture and microorganism. By this work, our industry partner CTK is aiming to extend its influence on the beauty industry by publishing papers in collaboration with universities, and to expand its business in Canada.

Faculty Supervisor:

Tiz Mekonnen

Student:

Arvind Gupta

Partner:

CTK Bio Canada

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Waterloo