EDMONTON, Alberta — February 16, 2023 — The Government of Alberta is advancing the province’s global leadership in the circular economy by committing $58 million through Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) to projects across the province worth $528 million. All funding is sourced from the province’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund.
Producing high-quality fertilizer for farmers, recycling asphalt from roof shingles, sequestering carbon in concrete, and novel plastics recycling are some examples of the technology solutions receiving funding through ERA’s Circular Economy Challenge.
If successful, these projects will result in cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions of up to 4 million tonnes by 2050 — equal to offsetting the GHG footprint of 1 million homes. Circular Economy Challenge Funding is expected to create 1835 person-year jobs* in Alberta and have a $350 million GDP impact in the province by 2025.
The investment aligns with provincial initiatives including the proposed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) approach, the agricultural plastics recycling initiative, and the Natural Gas Vision and Strategy’s goal to establish Alberta as a centre of excellence for plastics diversion and recycling.
“Advancing technology solutions that support a circular economy makes good environmental and economic sense,” said Sonya Savage, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas. “Circular Economy Challenge projects supported by the TIER fund will help keep valuable materials in the economy and out of landfills, which drives investment, bolsters economic activity, cuts emissions, and creates jobs. It’s a win across the board.”
“A more sustainable, diversified provincial economy requires using our resources more wisely, we need to think about waste as a resource rather than a cost. This investment in converting waste into other uses is going to make a real difference,” added Justin Riemer, CEO, Emissions Reduction Alberta.
Circular Economy Challenge projects support waste reduction, material and feedstock substitution, value recovery, and reduction of the lifecycle environmental footprint of materials and products. These technology solutions can reduce the impacts of material production, processing, and disposal.
The innovations invested in here will support industry competitiveness, new venture creation, and economic diversification.
Projects include:
Northstar Clean Technologies Inc.
Design, build, and commence operations of a new asphalt roof shingles recycling facility ERA funding: $7.1 million | Project cost: $20.6 million
INCA Renewtech
Construct and operate a first-of-kind commercial facility to create a sustainable, advanced bio- composite material made from hemp stalk ERA funding: $10 million | Project cost: $174.5 million
Sparks Eggs
Dehydrate inedible eggs from an existing grading and packing facility into a powder to be used for pet food and animal feed ERA funding: $500,000 | Project cost: $1 million
Rimrock Renewables LP.
Treat the biproduct of the anaerobic digestion process to produce fertilizer, peat, cattle bedding, and clean water on-site ERA funding: $8.4 million | Project cost: $19 million
Hydrovac Waste Solutions Ltd.
Divert slurry from the landfill and recover valuable products from the hydro-vacuum process ERA funding: $1.7 million | Project cost: $8 million
Carbon Upcycling Technologies
Demonstrate a commercial-scale carbon sequestration and utilization technology for the cement and concrete sector ERA funding: $4.4 million |Project cost: $11 million
Phyto Organix Foods Inc.
Construction of a large-scale, commercial, net zero yellow pea fractionation facility ERA funding: $10 million | Project cost: $231 million
Suncor Energy Inc.
Recover Vanadium, a valuable critical metal/element, from the fly ash by-product from coke- fired boilers and use it in the growing energy storage market ERA funding: $7 million | Project cost: $36 million
Circular Rubber Technologies Inc.
Reclaim rubber from end-of-life, high-grade tires from industrial activities and sell the end product back to manufacturers for use in new tires ERA funding: $3.2 million | Project cost: $16 million
RBW Waste Management Ltd.
Install and commission a recycling system for high-density polyethylene containers used to transport liquid and solid wastes and process them into new products ERA funding: $700,000 | Project cost: $1.4 million
“This funding will enable INCA Renewtech to significantly accelerate construction of our state- of-the-art hemp processing and composites manufacturing factory,” said David Saltman, chairman & CEO, INCA Renewtech. “We will purchase waste straw from farmers currently growing hemp for plant-based protein and transform this renewable resource into advanced bio-composites for the automotive, marine, wind energy, and consumer plastics industries.”
“Government of Alberta funding through Emissions Reduction Alberta is critical to fulfilling our objective of meeting consumer demand for healthy, functional proteins and food co-products that are produced in a sustainable way,” said Chris Theal, president & CEO, Phyto Organix Foods Inc. “This project creates the opportunity to add value to Alberta’s pulse resources, diversify our economy, and directly help mitigate global food security risks, while doing so with a differentiated carbon and water sustainability footprint.”
“The Suncor team and our partners are excited to advance this project which has the potential to produce commercial quantities of a critical metal used in the production of grid level energy storage solutions,” noted Todd Pugsley, director, Technology Development – Bitumen Value Chain, Suncor. “The Alberta Vanadium Project is consistent with Suncor’s leading position in developing new lines of revenue that also support greater adoption of low carbon sources of energy.”
“This support of Circular Rubber Technologies’ project is pivotal in advancing Canada’s circular economy,” said Maartje Van Der Sande, CEO of Circular Rubber Technologies (CRT). “CRT is constructing the world’s first commercial scale rubber devulcanization facility for industrial tires, its first state of the art facility in Alberta, set to begin production in Fall 2023. ERA accelerates bringing CRT’s product — the world’s cleanest, highest quality rubber reclaim – to a $45 billion global market.”
“Circularity in our economy will be integral to Alberta’s decarbonization efforts,” said Ryan Bourns, Business Development Partnerships Manager, Carbon Upcycling. “Circular Economy Challenge funding signals the government’s commitment to supporting innovative companies like Carbon Upcycling, as we collaborate with industry partners and look to achieve commercial-scale impact in the cement industry.”
“Circular Economy Challenge funding will facilitate our company to meet zero-waste and sustainability goals for our food processing facility in Calgary,” said Scott Brookshaw, Executive Vice President, Sparks Eggs, Division of Golden Valley Foods Ltd. “We will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and transform our current waste product into a new ingredient for the pet food industry, creating a circular economy and permanent sustainable waste management solution.”
“Rimrock Renewables is honored to be recognized by the Government of Alberta through ERA as an innovator in the development of alternative energy solutions to support the Canadian energy transformation,” said Scott McLean, Director, Rimrock Renewables; Executive Vice President Operations Tidewater Renewables Ltd. “Funding from partners like the ERA is key to accelerating our shovel-ready project and making an immediate impact to Canada’s emission reduction goals.”
“With funding from the Government of Alberta through ERA, we can reliably scale up a cleantech process that recycles hydrovac waste into valuable products for cement production,” added Ash Thibault, vice president, Hydrovac Waste Solutions. “This will keep materials out of landfills, while helping Alberta’s cement and hydrovac industries get closer to meeting their sustainability and net-zero emission goals.”
“The Government of Alberta and ERA’s contribution to our innovative and proprietary clean technology process is hugely supportive in the commercialization of our first scale up asphalt shingle reprocessing facility in Alberta,” noted said Aidan Mills, president and CEO, Northstar Clean Technologies Inc. “This landmark facility will be the first in North America and launches our scalable business model to deploy our circular economy, clean technology solution across Canada and the US.”
“Plastic recycling has been a longstanding aspiration of RBW Waste Management Ltd.,” said Rick Williams, president, RBW Waste Management Ltd. “Circular Economy Challenge funding allows this to become a reality. Plastic waste received at our facility will be converted to new recycled plastic products, reducing waste and reliance on virgin materials to make industrial products, while promoting a circular economy model for high- density polyethylene plastics.”
All ERA funding recipients are required to produce a final outcomes report that is shared publicly for the broader benefit of Alberta. Funding recipients will be required to report on project outcomes, achievements, and lessons learned including GHG reductions, job creation, and other environmental, economic, and social benefits.
*A person-year is equal to one-year of employment for one individual.
Posted: February 20, 2023
Source: Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA)
