POTENTIAL IMPACT The cost of gathering waste cardboard can be significant, but Gall suggests many community businesses and organizations are eager to drop off their unwanted material directly at the mill to avoid paying landfill tipping fees. Much of the cardboard taken to the landfill is either dirty or damaged and can’t be used for pellet production, but Gall figures diverting about 60 per cent of it will enable upwards of 60 tonnes of useable feedstock annually. The Aurora Research Institute has partnered in the project with Delta Enterprises, a private Gwich’in-owned local company that provided access to one of its workshops to install the pellet mill. Delta is poised to eventually take over the infrastructure’s commercial operation. “We’re working on training them and teaching them how to use the mill while getting our research questions answered,” Gall says. To cover the costs of the research project, a $95,000 grant was provided by Northern REACHE (Responsible Energy Approach for Community Health and Electricity), offered by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Fixed costs included $75,000 in equipment needed to sustain a 250 pounds-per-hour processing rate. In addition to covering the costs of the shredder, silo and mill, the grant also provided for the costs of electricity and service upgrades. Cardboard pellets produced during the pellet mill commissioning. Among the anticipated benefits of the project include the creation of local jobs, the conservation of landfill space and a reduction of methane gas emissions from unevenly decomposing cardboard waste. • FUNDING FOR EMPLOYERS Green Jobs employers are eligible for a wage match to hire youth (aged 15–30) into jobs that contribute to a more sustainable planet. DID YOU KNOW? JOBS FOR YOUTH HELPED PLACE SINCE 2018, PLT CANADA HAS YOUTH 3,500 IN OVER + AND SUPPORTED PAID WORK EXPERIENCES 250 + GREEN JOB SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE SFI-00001 EMPLOYERS WITH A WAGE MATCH Youth can also access mentorship opportunities, skill-building resources, mental health services, equipment subsidies, and much more. Learn more: pltcanada.org . PROJECT LEARNING TREE CANADA PLT is an initiative of SFI Funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy CB_TLC-Canada_Summe21_CSA.indd 1 Canadian BIOMASS 2021-06-29 10:56 AM 13
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