Xylitol Canada to make sweetener from wood

June 23, 2011 – Toronto-based Xylitol Canada has
announced plans to leapfrog the initial strategy for a pilot plant and go
directly to commercial-scale xylitol production operations. Xylitol is an all-natural,
plant-based sweetener that looks and tastes like sugar. Working with biofuel
company Mascoma Corporation, Xylitol Canada is in discussions to co-locate a
commercial-scale xylose plant adjacent to one of Mascoma’s first commercial
cellulosic ethanol plants. The two companies will work together to create a
facility with comprehensive capabilities for converting non-food cellulose
(wood chips) into ethanol and high-value co-products such as xylitol. Due to
the existence of Mascoma’s Rome, New York, pilot plant, Xylitol Canada no
longer needs to prove feedstock viability, allowing the focus to be on
establishment of its first commercial-scale plant.

“The partnership between these two
innovative businesses continues to move the Xylitol Canada time line towards
the commissioning of a full-scale xylose plant,” says Xylitol Canada CEO and
founder Andrew Reid. “Mascoma’s proprietary approach for producing cellulosic
ethanol is the perfect complement for the manufacturing of xylitol, as the
process produces a co-product which is the exact feedstock that we need.”