Cascades announces $26M cleantech investment

TÉMISCOUATA-SUR-LE-LAC, Que.—Packaging products and tissue paper maker Cascades Inc. is investing $26 million to replace the use of chemical products in its materials recycling process at its Norampac-Cabano facility.

This new process will be the first time it’s implemented in Canada and will extract hemicellulose—a cellulosic sugar with high value-added potential—from wood chips. It will replace production of sodium carbonate-based chemical pulp.

This project is being backed by a $10 million investment from Natural Resources Canada’s Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program and $4.4 million from the Québec Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs.

The project is also expected to reduce the plant’s energy consumption, which will boost Cabano’s competitiveness.

Hemicellulose, a natural polymer found in plant cell walls, presents myriad opportunities ranging from power generation to biofuels such as ethanol, as well as the production of natural sugar-based value-added products.

“Cascades is once again pleased with this pioneering achievement in the areas of innovation and sustainable development, especially within the four walls of one of its original facilities,” declared Mario Plourde, president and chief executive officer. “This project represents a unique advance in biorefinery technological development. This new process will enable improvements in the efficiency and competitiveness of our Cabano plant’s current corrugated paper production process, thus making existing jobs more secure.”