THESIS - ROC CH ... - FINAL - resubmission.pdf - University of Guelph

1.0 INTRODUCTION
The production of soybean is one of the largest in Canada with increasing demand in
recent decades (Statistics Canada, Cereals and Oilseeds Review Series, Cat. No. 22-077).
Soybeans are mainly harvested for their oil content with the rest of the plant being generated as
waste. The by-products include protein-rich domains from the soybean along with highly fibrous
material from soy hulls, soy pods, and stems of the plant. By developing alternative uses for
these materials, the cost of disposal could be absolved while increasing economic benefits for
the soy farmers and the related industry. One area of research that may use these materials is
with the production of green plastics.
Green plastics development has regained momentum in recent years due to
environmental and economic concerns with synthetic plastics. Negative environmental impacts
arise from the non-degradable nature of synthetic plastics. In 2010, up to 31 million tons of
plastic waste was generated in the US with only 8% of it being recycled (Environmental
Protection Agency 2012). The rest were disposed of in the landfills or incinerated, which further
pollute the environment. Economically, the limited supply of fossil fuels would create a rise in
cost of energy and petroleum based products favoring petroleum-rich nations. By redirecting
petroleum resources to concentrate on energy production, manufacturing green plastics not only
benefits the environment, but also positively impacts the national economy.
Many studies utilizing soy to create a bio-based green plastic have been explored (Song
et al. 2011; Verbeek and van den Berg 2010; Zhang and Mittal 2010). However, most of these
studies use batch production techniques such as casting and compression molding which are
inefficient for mass production. Commercial viability of a soy based plastic would be better
achieved by developing continuous production methods that could seamlessly integrate with
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