Canada’s Saskatchewan Polytechnic and EnviroWay Detergent Manufacturing are collaborating on a research project focused on converting residual fibres from flax and hemp crops into biodegradable plastics suitable for bottles.
The initiative has received C$250,000 ($182,672.50) from the Agriculture Development Fund under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, with an additional C$7,000 from the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program.
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The goal is to develop sustainable packaging alternatives for cleaning products.
The research is being led by Dr Satyanarayan Panigrahi, chair of the Biomaterials Testing and Prototyping (B-TAP) research group at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, working in collaboration with EnviroWay.
Panigrahi said: “Getting these pellets to work in blow-moulding machines is a major technical hurdle, because fibre-reinforced plastics often behave unpredictably when melted and shaped. The goal is to develop a plastic that flows smoothly and produces bottles that are as durable as traditional plastic ones.”
Sask Polytech Sustainability-Led Integrated Centres of Excellence (SLICE) head Robin Smith said: “The B-TAP team is tackling a major challenge in sustainable packaging using local resources and manufacturing facilities.”
The B-TAP facility is set up to process agricultural by-products, and the team has prior experience working with flax and hemp biomass.
Work is scheduled to begin this year, starting with an assessment of flax and hemp fibres grown in Saskatchewan.
Researchers will examine their quality, availability, costs, and suitability for mixing with biodegradable plastics.
After selecting the appropriate mix, biocomposite pellets will be made using these fibres combined with biodegradable resin.
These pellets will then be used to produce prototype bottles.
The bottles will be tested with various cleaning products such as degreasers and detergents to observe how they perform under typical storage and transportation scenarios.
Tests aim to identify any signs of leaching or degradation over time.
EnviroWay’s production line in Saskatoon will be used to test how the new bottles integrate with current manufacturing processes.
Direct involvement with industry partners is intended to inform any necessary adjustments for large-scale production and facilitate future adoption by interested companies.
Intellectual property from this work will remain with EnviroWay.
The project is part of broader efforts within Saskatchewan to find uses for agricultural residues and increase local crop processing capacity.
It also seeks to support rural economies by encouraging investment in fibre processing infrastructure.
