The Provincial Government has given Skookumchuck Pulp Inc. $880,000 in grant funding to use wood fibre that would otherwise go to waste.
The funding is part of $2,737,764 in grants from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC. The Province said the money will be divided between four projects aimed at supporting forestry contractors and using wood that would be burned if it is not used.
Projects are aimed to reduce wood waste and turn it into wood pellets and pulp products, which the Provincial Government said will help meet climate change targets for B.C. and Canada.
According to the B.C. Government, about 110,000 cubic meters or 2,200 truckloads of material from slash piles will be used to make pulp for use in paper products by the Skookumchuck Mill. Of the four projects receiving funding, Skookumchuck Pulp Inc. will receive the largest volume of wood fibre.
“Our government’s focus is creating jobs in the forest sector by getting the most out of the fibre that comes out of our public forests,” said Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. “Our partnership with the Forest Enhancement Society of BC is making sure that more fibre gets turned into viable products – supporting good jobs in rural B.C. – and less is left on the forest floor.”
Funding will also provide $1,080,000 to Taan Forest Products in the Haida Gwaii Natural Resource District to convert about 51,000 cubic meters and $369,450 to RPP Holdings Inc. in the Quesnel Natural Resource District for approximately 36,00 cubic meters. The B.C. Government said that both projects will see slash converted to pulp and used for paper products.
Meanwhile, the Province said that $408,320 in grants will go to Skeena Bioenergy Ltd. in the Coast Mountains Natural Resource District to make 22,00 cubic meters of slash into wood pellets.