OTTAWA,
Oct. 13, 2011
(CNW) -
The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) says the industry appreciates the strategic government investments that are continuing to help the industry transform and become more energy and cost efficient.
The federal government has just announced further allocations from the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program (PPGTP) and the Transformative Technologies - Pilot Scale Demonstration Program. The first recipients of the Investments in the Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program were also announced.
"This is a smart example of how government can help accelerate the changes now underway in the forest products sector in Canada," says the President and CEO of FPAC, Avrim Lazar. "This will help companies make the necessary capital improvements that will bolster our economic competitiveness and our environmental credentials as we transform into the next generation forest industry."
PPGTP has already had a deep impact on many communities and has helped secure thousands of jobs in rural Canada. To date the projects have supported more than 11,000 jobs in 33 mills in 30 communities across the country and today's announcement will further expand the positive effect of the program. PPGTP continues to show how government and industry can work together successfully on a number of fronts - jobs, economic competitiveness, and the environment.
The Transformative Technologies funding supports pre-commercial development stage projects of new and emerging, highly transformative technologies with the potential to bring about fundamental changes in the Canadian forest products industry. The program is critical to the industry's ability to extract more value from the resource, as it brings together government and industry for projects aimed at promoting transformative uses for wood fibre and its many products and derivatives, including biofuels, biochemicals and bioplastics.
FPAC also welcomes the first allocation of IFIT funds and eagerly awaits additional announcements that will help the industry further develop breakthrough technologies, diversify revenues through non-traditional products, create new jobs and enhance the sector's economic viability.
"This is all about enhancing the industry's environmental performance while securing jobs and economic prosperity for rural Canada," says Lazar.
FPAC provides a voice for Canada's wood, pulp, and paper producers nationally and internationally in government, trade, and environmental affairs. The $57-billion-a-year forest products industry represents 2% of Canada's GDP and is one of Canada's largest employers operating in hundreds of communities and providing 240,000 direct jobs across the country.
