Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council

Project Description

This project will study the feasibility of building North America's first, full-scale, non-wood pulp and/or paper mill in Manitoba. The proposed mill would use agricultural residues such as flax straw and cereal straws instead of trees. The mill must be able to produce and sell agri-fibre pulp and/or paper at prices equal to or less than the traditional wood-based papers. Non-wood papers are usually sold at 2 to 3 times the price.

Project Objectives

To recycle agricultural waste. To decrease the negative environmental impact of stubble burning and rotting. To create a sustainable source of paper fibre that is an alternative to trees. To create a new, sustainable industry in Manitoba that adds value for farmers, creates a new export product and benefits the local economy while positively affecting the environment. To help create and build a new market for non-wood paper in North America. To set an example of a profitable non-wood mill operation that would lead the industry to use agricultural residues as a fibre source across North America.

General Information

Observations and Conclusion: 

The company HurterConsult Incorporated was retained to prepare three alternatives that could meet the project objectives. They are:

• Flax and Hemp Market Pulp Mill: a 54,000 dry tonne (bdmt/y) per year pulp mill producing high quality flax and/or hemp bleached pulps.
• Flax and Hemp Market Pulp Mill and Non-Wood Paper Mill: a pulp and paper complex which would produce 54,000 bdmt/y of high quality flax and/or hemp bleached pulp and 200,000mt/y of non-wood fibre paper produced from flax/hemp pulps and cereal straw pulps and purchased recycled de-inked market pulp.
• Non-Wood Paper Mill: an integrated pulp and paper complex which would producer 200,000 mt/y of non-wood fibre paper from wheat/oat straw pulps produced at the mill and various pulps including recycled de-inked market pulp and cotton linters pulp and/or softwood kraft pulp.

Conclusions:

Assessing all the issues, HurterConsult recommends more study on:

• Non-Wood Paper Mill
  based on locally available wheat and oat straw and purchased pulps
  the potential site would be in southern Manitoba, depending on adequate water supply
  - straw is readily available in the area surrounding the suggested sites,
  - the technology for cereal pulping, bleaching and papermaking is well established although some R and D work will be needed to optimize the process conditions and produce large quantities of paper for marketing purposes,
  - furnish composition is optional,
  - the non-wood paper mill is a much less complicated and less costly process than the other options.

Update July 2002:

• The numbered company is now known as Prairie Pulp and Paper Company
• The Company has now produced the first samples of high quality paper in a small-scale laboratory pilot plant at North Carolina State University using wheat and oat straw.
• The Company is now approaching potential customers.
• It has lined up potential sources of the agri-fibre.
• The next step is producing enough paper samples to market to potential buyers and to engage an international engineering firm to complete the EPC (Engineer, Procure, Construct) contract in order to finance a full-scale agri-fibre paper mill in Manitoba.