News
Turning agricultural waste into opportunity
Competitive Green Technologies received an investment of $499,433 from the Canadian government to research and develop a biomass-based alternative material that could replace traditional nylon in automobile manufacturing and other industries.
November 28, 2018 By Top Crop Manager
Lloyd Longfield, member of parliament for Guelph, announced the investment on behalf of Lawrence MacAulay, minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
With technical expertise from the University of Guelph’s Bioproducts Discovery and Development Centre, the company is developing a new biocomposite material from resin and natural fibres derived from agricultural waste. This new biocomposite material could be used by the automotive industry to produce stronger, more environmentally friendly car parts using more renewable content at a lower cost. The use of agricultural residues to produce this biocomposite material could lead to new economic opportunities for farmers.
“The Government of Canada is proud to support companies like Competitive Green Technologies who use cutting-edge technologies to create innovative environmentally friendly products that will help to green the Canadian economy, while offering new value-added opportunities for farmers,” said Longfield, Guelph’s member of parliament, in a release.
Competitive Green Technologies develops and commercializes green technologies to lower the carbon footprint through compounding biocomposite resins using agricultural non-food, non-forest crops.
The bioproducts sector ranges from biofuels and biochemicals to biobased automotive applications. Currently, the global bioplastics and biocomposites sector is coming out of its infancy and capturing the plastics market at a growth rate of 30 per cent annually.
Similar projects will be supported under the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriScience Program, a five-year (2018-2023), up to $338 million initiative, that aims to accelerate the pace of innovation by providing funding and support for pre-commercial science activities and cutting-edge research that benefits the agriculture and agri-food sector and Canadians.
