Development of plastic compounds for manufacturing of recyclable and sustainable bag closures

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During the last few years, the plastics industry, especially the packaging sector, has been under severe pressure to use recyclable and sustainable materials and processes in order to promote a circular economy. The goal of the proposed research partnership between University of Waterloo (UW) and Kwik Lok is to develop plastic compounds which can be used in existing extrusion manufacturing equipment for the production of recyclable and biodegradable bag closures. Kwik Lok is the leading preferred supplier globally and its core business is the production of plastic closures for bakery and produce packaging. Kwik Lok's Cambridge, ON plant produces 2.3 billion lok closures per year. KwikLok lacks in-house expertise and experimental facilities available at UW and stands to benefit significantly from this partnership.The outcomes of this project will include: (i) development of a methodology for development of plastics compound recipes for the production of recyclable and sustainable plastic closures, (ii) characterization of the rheological and mechanical properties of these compounds, and (iii) performance evaluation of these compounds in sheet extrusion operations through experiments (laboratory scale as well as production scale) and numerical simulations. These outcomes will enable Kwik Lok to transition from a typical manufacturing company to a technology company at the forefront of the packaging industry. Adoption of the results of this project will allow Kwik Lok to reduce climate and environmental impact and will contribute to the innovation-based competitiveness of their Canadian manufacturing operation. Upon successful completion of the proposed research work, Kwik Lok has the capacity (existing equipment; minimum capital investment required) and is committed to fully adopt the developed plastic compounds in their Cambridge, ON manufacturing site. Using the developed sustainable plastics compounds, will enable Kwik Lok to maintain and strengthen its market lead in Ontario and Canada by providing a variety of recyclable and sustainable closure solutions.