Companies with log sorts on the Sunshine Coast say they’re facing a crunch because of slumping demand and closures in the pulp and paper sector.
Without those buyers, there’s a growing surplus of “hog fuel”, the bark and other left overs from prepping logs for market.
Speaking at the Sunshine Coast Regional District, Franco Caporale of Interfor, said they’re working on new markets and new uses, to help preserve jobs.
Caporale says for his company that means looking outside Canada. They’ve no got a license to export to the US, where the material is used for decorative mulch, and fertilizer.
He says closer to home they’re working with Howe Sound Pulp and Paper, “All the dry-land sorts have been working with Howe Sound Pulp and Paper on extracting any solid wood out of the hog fuel pile, or the debris pile, and chipping that up and using it in their pulp process.”
The companies are also working with the Coast Forest Products Association, and the non-profit FPInnovations on ideas that include setting up a power generation project.
