Synthetic-free bonding and labeling solution for a plastic-free hair ties

实际上，市场上的发带产品种类繁多。不幸的是，许多这样的发带全部或部分由合成聚合物制成，可能需要几十年才能分解。目前的估计显示，在北美，每天有1500万根发带被丢弃或丢失，其中大多数是由塑料成分制成的，这意味着它们可能需要很多年才能分解。例如，尼龙织物大约需要30-40年才能在环境中分解。提出的发带解决方案为一个巨大的环境问题提供了一个功能性和时尚的解决方案。目前由合作伙伴生产的产品是市场上为数不多的商用无塑料发带之一。它们由平面编织有机棉纤维（75%）和弹性纤维（25%）制成。该产品的需求不断增长，并努力扩大其生产规模以满足需求。合作伙伴一直在寻找一种替代劳动密集型的连接程序，为他的头发领带。实际上，连接过程包括手工缝制弹力带的两端。目前该产品面临的挑战是如何将弹力织物的两端密封在一起。目前最基本的解决方案是用棉质标签和棒状大头针缝合。这种解决方案的问题是它经常被头发夹住，也不能扩展到更小的应用中（他们目前的弹性织物是11毫米宽，他们正在开发5毫米的版本和4毫米直径的圆形版本）。拟议的项目包括开发一种生态的、无塑料的发带粘合解决方案，以取代缝纫/缝合过程。鉴于CTT集团在聚合物和粘接系统方面的专业知识和声誉，将开发一种新的粘接系统和程序，该程序最终可以使用并扩大规模，以满足当前的产品规格。

There is actually a great diversity of hair ties products on the market. Unfortunately, many such hair ties are made totally or partially with synthetic polymers that may take decades to decompose. Current estimates show that 15 million hair ties are tossed or lost daily in North America and most of them are made from plastic-based ingredients, meaning they may take many years to break down. For example, nylon fabrics takes approximately 30-40 years to decompose in the environment. The proposed hair ties solution offers a functional and fashionable solution to a large environmental problem. The current product manufactured by the partner is one of the very few commercially-available plastic-free hair tie on the market. They are made from a flat woven organic cotton fiber (75%) and elastomeric fiber (25%). The product has a growing demand and efforts are made to scale its production to keep up with the demand. The partner has been looking for an alternative to labor intensive joining procedure for its hair ties. Actually, the joining procedure involves manual sewing (stitching) of two ends of a woven elastic band. The present challenge with the product is how to seal the two ends of the elastic fabric together. The basic solution right now involves a cotton label and bar-tack stitching. The problem with this solution is that it often gets caught in the hair and also does not scale to smaller applications (their current elastic fabric is 11mm wide and they are developing a 5mm version and a 4mm diameter round version). The proposed project consists in the development of an ecological, plastic-free bonding solution for hair ties to replace the sewing/stitching procedure. Provided the expertise and reputation of CTT Group with polymers and bonding systems, a new bonding system and procedure will be developed for hair ties, such procedure could be eventually used and scaled-up to meet current product specifications.