RESOLUTE’S MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR INVESTMENT INTO SAWMILL WILL ADD NEW SHIFT, JOBS Resolute Forest Products is investing $17 million in its Fort William First Nation sawmill in Thunder Bay, Ont. The amount is $4 million more than the company had origi-nally committed to the project. The investment will step up production at the mill by up to 40 million board feet of construction-grade lumber. About 330 million board feet are currently being processed in addition to 45,000 metric tons of wood pellets. Resolute plans to add another shift to create about 30 new mill jobs and other employment opportunities in woodland operations. The mill currently employs about 250 people. ANOMERA RECEIVES $4.25M TO PRODUCE ALTERNATIVE TO PLASTIC MICROBEADS The federal and Quebec governments are investing $4.25 million in Ano-mera Inc., to support the construc-tion of a demonstration plant that will produce 250 tonnes per year of carboxylated-cellulose nanocyrstals (cCNC) and bring the product to market. The facility will create up to 20 new jobs. Carboxylated-CNC is a biodegradable solution that can replace plastic and silica microbes in personal care and cosmetics. Anomera has created an eco-friendly conversion process that will create new, high-value market streams for the forest sector. “Anomera is pleased to be supported by the Canadian and Quebec governments to enable us to expedite the development of our advanced technology which creates new products from Canadian forests in a sustainable manner. Our initiative to replace plastic microbeads worldwide with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-harvested Canadian forest products is truly redefining the future of cellulose. As we move into the industrial markets, there will soon be tens of thousands of tonnes of demand for the Canadian-sourced cellulose nanocrystals,” said Howard Fields, president and CEO, Anomera Inc., in a statement. “Consumers increasingly demand that industry be more respectful of the environment, and Anomera’s products offer global industries natural, bio-degradable alternatives to silica and petroleum-based microbeads. Partnering with Anomera allows us to expand our biofuture strategy and help us to do what we do best: providing customers with sustainable, innovative products for a purer planet,” added Paul Boynton, president and CEO, Rayonier Advanced Materials. HORSE LAKE FIRST NATION BIO-REFINERY TO BEGIN PRODUCING HEAT, POWER FROM BIOMASS Ground has been broken for a new bio-refinery at the Horse Lake First Nation in northwestern Alberta. The First Nation is partnering with BioEnergy Solutions on the project known as Horse Lake Energy Junction. The facility is expected to be fully operational by Janu-ary 2022. It will utilize biomass inputs for power, and will produce biostimulants while harvesting algae and sequestering emissions. The facility will be self-sustaining and will combine biomass waste and agricultural waste to create heat and power. SBP-endorsed Regional Risk Assessment for BC published The Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) has published the SBP-endorsed Regional Risk Assessment (RRA) for B.C. The Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) initiat-ed the RRA in 2018 to verify the legality and sustainability of uncertified feedstock in B.C. Hopkin Forest Manage-ment Consulting Ltd. and a team of independent natural re-source and certification professionals formed the Working Body responsible for developing the RRA. SBP-endorsed RRAs are a key part of SBP’s focus on identifying and mitigating risks associated with sustainably sourcing feedstock for biomass pellet and wood chip pro-duction. RRAs evaluate an entire geographic region and determine the risks associated with sourcing feedstock from that region. Thus, individual biomass producers do not need to conduct risk assessments and consistency between biomass producers’ risk assessments is guaranteed. FALL 2021 6 Canadian BIOMASS
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