B.C. forest fibre processing gets federal support for modernizing, upgrading

A federally funded project aimed at deploying innovative technology and processes to improve fibre processing and address regional fibre availability issues in British Columbia has been announced by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Mercer Celgar Limited Partnership, based in Castlegar, has received $4.5 million for a first-of-its-kind, high-capacity and low-operating-cost stationary flail debarker at the mill. The new flail debarker removes bark from wood that would previously end up as debris after the harvesting process. This will reduce the amount of forest waste and lower emissions from decreased forest residue burning.

Funding for this project is provided through the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program, which encourages the Canadian forest sector to adopt innovative technologies and processes to establish new product streams and emerging markets.

The 2021 budget announced up to $54.8 million over two years, starting in 2021–2022, to increase the capacity of this program. By investing in innovative forest sector technologies, the forest sector is providing greener solutions that help tackle climate change and transition to a low-carbon economy while increasing its competitiveness on a national and global scale.

Canada’s forest sector is a major employer of Canadians, including Indigenous Peoples, in rural and remote communities. A competitive and resilient forest sector is essential to communities and workers across the country.

“Pulp mills in British Columbia are working to extract the maximum benefit from forest fibre while also improving sustainability,” Marc G. Serré, parliamentary secretary to the minister of natural resources, said. “It’s great to see innovative companies in Canada’s forest sector that are able to upgrade their operations in order to further increase efficiency and reduce emissions.”