Canada's first non-wood pulp facility

SRL 2 - formulation of problem and proposed solution(s) - identifying relevant stakeholders for the project

Canada’s first non-wood pulp facility

Creating Sustainable and Environmentally Conscious Consumer Products

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

ORGANISATION / PARTNERS

Red Leaf Pulp Ltd

BUSINESS MODEL

SCALE: Regional

Stakeholder:

Private Sector

Type:

B2B - Business to BusinessB2C - Business to ConsumerB2G - Business to Government

BUSINESS MODEL FORMAT:

Product Type(s):

FACET & LEVEL

FACET:

AgricultureBio-economyManufacturingSupply Chain

LEVEL:

Meso - Network, Cluster & Eco-Industrial Parks

Network, Cluster & Eco-Industrial Parks
Micro - Company/Organisation

Company/Organisation

SOCIETAL READINESS LEVEL & POTENTIAL

FUTURE POTENTIAL

ScaleableReplicable

SOCIETAL READINESS LEVEL

SRL 2 - formulation of problem and proposed solution(s) - identifying relevant stakeholders for the project

SRL 2 - formulation of problem and proposed solution(s) - identifying relevant stakeholders for the project

CIRCULAR CYCLE PHASE

STATUS & TIMELINE

Funding	03/2021	Secures Funding Through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Agricultural Clean Technology Program
LCA report	03/2021	Reports Life Cycle Assessment of New Wheat Straw Based Pulp - initial Life Cycle Assessment conducted by NatureBank which concludes that our pulp will be the lowest carbon-intensive pulp on the planet, virgin or recycled. Read the full article here.
Funding	05/2021	Red Leaf Pulp is pleased to announce the award of a non-repayable grant from the Province of Saskatchewan’s SAIF (Saskatchewan Advantage Innovation Fund) program, administered by Innovation Saskatchewan. SAIF is a research and development program intended to support and accelerate commercialization of game-changing technological innovation in Saskatchewan’s core sectors.
Stakeholder engagement	10/2021	Producer Meeting - These meetings are being held to allow the Company to secure straw supply for the facility, and provide an opportunity for further engagement with the producer community

DESCRIPTION

TITLE: Canada's first non-wood pulp facility

CONCEPT: Creating Sustainable and Environmentally Conscious Consumer Products

Red Leaf will be Canada’s first entity to develop, construct, and operate a non-wood fibre pulp plant. The Red Leaf team is comprised of industry leaders in all stages of project execution and includes people with mill operations and maintenance experience. Red Leaf is experienced in managing all aspects of a project from concept generation, strategy, planning, design, construction and commissioning. Through Red Leaf’s process and energy integration capabilities, opportunities to lower production costs while optimizing energy usage and power production will be further identified.

Looking forward, Red Leaf will develop several non-wood fibre pulp plants over the next 10-15 years and prove to be a key player in the movement to providing alternative fibre pulps to the market.

LOCAL LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION: Français

IMPACT

BARRIERS

CULTURAL
- Limited understanding on impacts
- Willingness to collaborate in the value chain
- Consumer interest and awareness
- Operating in a linear system
- Change of mindset
SOCIAL
- Lack of community connection
MARKET
- High upfront investment costs
- High planning and management costs
- Limited funding
- Traceability/transparency in the value chain
- Demand for low prices
- Complementary skills/services required
- Dependencies on natural capital
TECHNOLOGICAL
- Circular design
- Too few large scale projects
- Geographic dispersion of supply chains
- Geographic dispersion of products/materials
REGULATORY
- Government incentive support the linear economy
- Circularity is not efficiently integrated into innovation policies
- Absence of consistently applied standards and protocols

ENABLERS

TECHNOLOGICAL
- Increased resource productivity, cost reductions
- Increased efficiency
- Better waste processing
- Higher quality of recycled materials
- Digital technologies and engineering to support business models
MARKET
- Need for a long-term vision by businesses
- Competitive advantage for early adopters
- Digital infrastructure
- New alliances and collaborations
- Access to regional / global supply of secondary materials & by products
CULTURAL
- Integration of the CE concept into training and educational programs
- A creative and skilled problem-solving resource
- Preparation of future professional practices and understanding
SOCIAL
- Change in the choices made by consumers
- Increased status related to second-hand and circular products
- More inclusive and connected communities
REGULATORY
- Green & Circular Procurement
- No or low VAT on circular products and services
- Provide access to funding to encourage experimentation, innovation and redesign
- Foster the development of new technologies with the support of public authorities
- Assess progress using reliable indicators for imports and local production while accounting for the life cycles of products
- Use of circular performance indicators by governments, investors and businesses can encourage the value chain to become more circular
- Investment in education and employment services to prepare the market for the next economy
- Promote public-private partnerships to better counter and lift political barriers

MATERIALS & CERTIFICATIONS

Paper
, Fertilisers
, Other
, other
, Animal products

packaging
, Molded products (cups, plates, trays, to-go-boxes)
, Tissue and towels
, Printing and writing paper
, Lingin

Fertilisers
, Other
, Animal products
, Paper
, other

TECHNOLOGY & LICENSE

DATA & DATA-SHARING

Negative Impact	Describe - What happens	kg of carbon stored	Knowledge Sector , Consumers/Users
Materials (content/recyclability)	Discover - What could happen	acreage	Upstream