Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

As the global population grows, so does the environmental footprint related to agriculture and other industries. Non-renewable sources are being depleted; less land is available for cultivation and waste disposal. This problem is critical. Over the next 30 years, food production is expected to rise ~70%, and correspondingly, agricultural waste (crop residue) will increase; a typical flax crop yields 20 bushels of seed and 1/2 tonne of waste (straw) per acre which decomposes slowly. Also, the annual disposal of tires is ~17 million tonnes (MMt) globally (~0.63 MMt in Canada). Annually, only 9% of 6300 MMt of waste plastic from the 8300 MMt globally produced is recycled.(Canadian dispose 0.33 MMt.) Typical disposal of these wastes involves burning, which releases toxins into the environment. The proposed research seeks to eliminate such unsustainable, harmful practices ending the life of most products by developing value-added (VA) material from the waste and discovering characteristics for engineering VA products to create circular economies. Novel materials and products can be designed from waste agricultural fibre(AF), crushed tire(CT), and reclaimed plastic packaging(P). But first, fundamental research to discover material properties of the VA material is needed. A systems engineering approach provides breadth in the material development, empirical property assessment, manufacturing optimization, and life cycle analysis for modeling and engineering VA materials and products. Innovative VA composites from the different wastes will vary in composition and manufacturing. For example VA material composed of AF that is size reduced by pulping/chopping will be vacuum-formed or dried-in-place, and the VA material composed of various sizes of AF, CT, and P will be formed using extrusion or compression molding. Material/mechanical properties (such as, density, tensile strength, stiffness, toughness, and acoustic absorption) and performance/life cycle measures will be studied for each VA materials. The empirical data and developed mathematical models will relate material composition, manufacturing parameters, and material properties using multivariate analysis and artificial neural net modeling. The resulting models can then be available for use in product engineering. For example, stress-strain curves can be use within finite element modeling packages, and the other models used to select material composition and manufacturing method. Furthermore, process mapping that tracks resources (material, energy, labour) will assess applications' industrial feasibility and technology transfer risks. The research will benefit the public, industry and environment by reducing agricultural and related wastes through developing ecologically-friendly products and manufacturing processes. Economic growth for Canada as new revenue is generated from waste streams will created circular economies to reduce pollution and our ecological footprint.