Subscribe
Back to Search
Contact(s)
A local plastics company is teaming up with Orillia’s Lakehead University as it prepares to plant roots in a billion-dollar agricultural market.
Derek Rynard of Polyethics Industries – an Orillia-based manufacturer of environmentally-friendly plastic films – decided long before it was popular to put the future of the planet ahead of profits.
At one time, Polyethics was the only garbage bag manufacturer to use 100% recycled material – something that today is the norm for the industry. But they took it several steps further.
“We are the first manufacturer to use 100% recycled material to create 100% degradable products which are also 100% recyclable,” said Rynard, noting the company has managed to do all that while keeping its prices competitive without sacrificing quality.
Now, the innovative local firm is ready to conquer new markets.
“Three years ago, we made the decision to start a second company dedicated to research and development,” said Rynard of EcoPoly Solutions Inc. “We built a research lab in Newmarket with people and equipment that are second to none, globally.”
One of the products the company has developed is a biodegradable agricultural mulch film long coveted by farmers around the world. EcoPoly Solutions, through a research collaboration made possible by the Ontario Centres of Excellence, has enlisted the help of Lakehead University to test the ground-breaking product.
Professor Chris Murray is heading up the university’s research team working with Rynard’s company.
“It’s a terrific opportunity for Lakehead in Orillia and for our students,” said Murray, a Park Street Collegiate Institute graduate whose field of study is biodegradable plastics. “This is really a perfect match for us. We have students but we don’t have a dedicated research facility on campus.”
Murray said the opportunity to get hands-on experience in cutting-edge technology and access to a world-class research facility is a dream come true for local science students.
“It would take us 100 years of successful grant bids to be able to build that quality of research facility,” said Murray. “You wouldn’t see such a well-established, well-funded facility like this on any campus. Not only is access to equipment and research personnel great, the opportunity for our students is phenomenal.”
While students have worked in EcoPoly Solutions’ lab to help develop the new film, the university has now developed a 100-foot by 100-foot trial farm at the campus to test the products.
“Different types of plastics degrade differently, so they will be doing actual field testing at Lakehead,” said Rynard. “They will collect and analyze the data as a third party, which adds credibility to what we’re doing.”
And what they’re doing is trying to change the landscape for farmers. In recent years, farmers – especially those in Europe – have been turning to plastic mulch, which helps suppress weeds and conserve water as crops grow through slits or holes in the plastic.
“But these have been single-use products,” Rynard laments. “A farmer has to rip it up, bury it on the farm, burn it or send it to the landfill.”
With EcoPoly Solutions’ revolutionary new product, a farmer, after harvest, could plow the new-age mulch into the earth where the plastic would decompose into biomass. EcoPoly Solutions is working on a variety of designs for a variety of applications: a six-week film, a three-month film and a six-month film for various growing conditions.
“What we want to be able to tell prospective clients is that when you grow carrots, for example, here’s the best film to use,” Rynard said. “That’s why this research is so important.”
And timely. Rynard said the time is ripe for such a product, noting Australia, for example, is looking at banning plastic mulches that can’t biodegrade.
“Timing is everything in our field and there are not a lot of people working on this type of product,” Rynard said. “This could be the next big thing. The market is in the billions of dollars and is growing.”
While Murray and his students are focused on this partnership with EcoPoly Solutions, he is quick to point out that the relationship between the private sector business and the post-secondary institution could be just the beginning.
“There is no recipe for how a university can successfully partner with private businesses but this project is a terrific example of a collaboration that is a win-win situation for both,” said Murray. “I really believe it’s just the tip of the iceberg. This campus could grow quite uniquely with these types of partnerships.”
Rynard said having Lakehead University as a neighbour is a competitive advantage.
“When we saw there was an opportunity to work with the university that is in our backyard, it was a no-brainer,” said Rynard. “(Murray) is from Orillia and has a background in biodegradable plastics and I’m from Orillia … so it just makes sense.”
For Rynard, being environmentally-conscious also makes sense. Polyethics decided in 2008 to stop manufacturing products that are not made to degrade.
“Environmental sustainability, at the end of the day, is incredibly important,” said Rynard. “Everything we do in business and in our personal lives that can limit our carbon footprint is important. It’s the right thing to do and I think we’ve proven that a business can be successful doing the right thing.”
Murray, who chose to teach at Lakehead because the institution was in his hometown, thought he might have to sacrifice his research dreams when he came to a smaller university.
“I never guessed I would be doing cutting-edge research at this point in our journey here in Orillia,” said Murray. “This is absolutely the best place I could possibly be to do this research in my field of study.”
Photo:
Lakehead professor Chris Murray, student Amanda Grant, centre, of Gamebridge, and recent graduate Kayla Snyder, of Everett, conduct wind, water and soil tests on the trial garden at the Lakehead campus in Orillia. The team of students, led by Murray, is working with Derek Rynard of EcoPoly Solutions to test a cutting-edge biodegradable agriculture mulch film, which is a potentially multi-billion-dollar market.
