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

在过去几年中，塑料行业，特别是包装行业，一直面临着使用可回收和可持续材料和工艺以促进循环经济的巨大压力。滑铁卢大学（UW）和Kwik Lok之间拟议的研究合作伙伴关系的目标是开发可用于现有挤出制造设备的塑料化合物，用于生产可回收和可生物降解的袋子封口。快乐是全球领先的首选供应商，其核心业务是生产用于烘焙和农产品包装的塑料封口。快乐的剑桥工厂每年生产23亿个锁扣。KwikLok缺乏西澳大学的内部专业知识和实验设施，并将从这种合作关系中获益良多。该项目的成果将包括：(i)开发用于生产可回收和可持续塑料密封件的塑料化合物配方的方法，（ii）表征这些化合物的流变学和机械性能，以及（iii）通过实验（实验室规模和生产规模）和数值模拟对这些化合物在板材挤压操作中的性能进行评估。这些成果将使快乐从一家典型的制造公司转型为一家处于包装行业前沿的技术公司。采用该项目的成果将使快乐减少对气候和环境的影响，并将有助于其加拿大制造业务的创新竞争力。在成功完成拟议的研究工作后，快乐公司有能力（现有设备；所需的最低资本投资）并致力于在剑桥的生产基地全面采用开发的塑料化合物。使用开发的可持续塑料化合物，将使Kwik Lok通过提供各种可回收和可持续的封闭解决方案，保持并加强其在安大略省和加拿大的市场领先地位。

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.