Biodegradable polymer-hemp composites for cosmetics packaging

用于消费品包装的传统塑料需要几十到几百年才能降解。在加拿大，只有9%的塑料被回收利用，其余的都进入了垃圾填埋场和焚化炉。塑料废物管理不当导致地表水、土壤、地下水、海岸线、饮用水、食物和野生动物中存在塑料污染，人们越来越担心塑料污染对动物、环境和人类健康的影响。这些问题促使人们对生物可降解塑料的发展越来越感兴趣。进一步希望用于制备塑料的分子和材料可以从诸如废弃生物质（例如，农业）等天然来源获得，而不是从石化来源获得。与CTK化妆品的一个部门CTK Bio Canada合作，该项目的目的是开发用于化妆品包装的新型生物降解塑料。复合材料将基于可从生物质中获得的聚合物，结合大麻茎的天然纤维。这些纤维可以从工业大麻，一种农产品，或从茎中获得，这是加拿大大麻工业的废物。我们将制备新的聚合物类似物来提高材料的可降解性，并开发制造和加工方法，使我们的新材料能够很容易地应用于化妆品包装行业。具体来说，我们的目标是在一年内可以在垃圾填埋场降解的材料。利用加拿大在生物基资源方面的优势，CTK Bio Canada将在加拿大扩大复合材料的生产，然后与其主要的全球合作伙伴（如Chanel， Givenchy, Loreal）合作，为客户带来可降解的塑料包装。化妆品包装市场规模巨大（约630亿加元），其客户要求更环保的包装解决方案，这使其成为我们新材料的理想市场。

Traditional plastics used in the packaging of consumer products require tens to hundreds of years to degrade. In Canada, only 9% of plastics are recycled, with the remainder going to landfills and incinerators. Improper management of plastic waste has led to plastic pollution being present in surface waters, soil, groundwater, on shorelines, in drinking water, food, and in wildlife and there are growing concerns about its impact on the animals, the environment, and human health. These concerns have motivated increasing interest in the development of biodegradable plastics. It is further desirable that the molecules and materials used to prepare plastics can be obtained from natural sources such as waste biomass (e.g., agriculture) as opposed to petrochemical sources. Working with CTK Bio Canada, a division of CTK Cosmetics, the aim of this project is to develop new biodegradable plastics for cosmetics packaging. The composites will be based on a polymer that can be obtained from biomass, combined with natural fibres from hemp stems. The fibres can be obtained from industrial hemp, an agricultural product, or from the stems, which are a waste product of Canada's cannabis industry. We will prepare new polymer analogues to enhance the degradability of the materials, and develop fabrication and processing methods that will allow our new materials to be readily implemented into the cosmetics packaging industry. Specifically, we are targeting materials that will degrade in landfill within 1 year. Using Canada's strength in bio-based resources, CTK Bio Canada will scale up production of the composites in Canada, then work with its major global partners (e.g., Chanel, Givenchy, Loreal) to bring degradable plastic packaging to customers. The cosmetics packaging market is large (>$63 billion CAD) and its customers are demanding more environmentally-sustainable packaging solutions, making it an ideal market for our new materials.