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CelluForce celebrates world first: large-scale NCC production

CelluForce officially inaugurated on Jan. 26 the world’s first nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) demonstration plant at the Domtar pulp and paper mill site in Windsor, Que. Jean Moreau, president and CEO of CelluForce, was accompanied at the event by the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Joe Oliver; Québec’s Minister for Finance, Alain Paquet; John D. Williams, president and CEO of Domtar; and Pierre Lapointe, president and CEO of FPInnovations.

CelluForce is ramping up its production of NCC with a target of reaching a 1,000 kg (1 tonne) per day production rate in 2012. Trials integrating NCC into the manufacturing process of different products are currently taking place through technical collaboration agreements between CelluForce and 15 companies based in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia in four main industrial sectors: paints and coatings, films and barriers, textiles, and composites.

Plant construction extended over a 14-month period and was completed on time. The Canadian and Québec governments made a significant contribution to the financing of the $36 million plant with $23.2 million coming from Natural Resources Canada (Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program and Transformative Technologies Program) and $10.2 million from Québec’s Natural Resources and Wildlife Department.

Expressing his gratitude to all those who have contributed thus far to this venture, Jean Moreau declared: “Today we celebrate a milestone that enables us to be the first in the world on the path to creating a significant market for NCC. There is an exciting future ahead for NCC and CelluForce.”

“Our investment in the CelluForce project is part of a larger story at Domtar around unlocking greater value from wood fibre,” added John D. Williams, Domtar president and Chief Executive Officer. “We are thrilled to be partners in this world-class venture that aligns so squarely with our business growth objective to become a global leader in fiber innovation.”

Pierre Lapointe, president and CEO of FPInnovations stated that “We are very proud that this innovation developed by FPInnovations’ research team is now moving from the laboratories to the marketplace. This is a great day for FPInnovations’ staff and all our partners.”

NCC’s remarkable properties are expected to lead to commercial applications largely exceeding those of traditional wood fibre products. CelluForce will, on a worldwide basis, market NanoCrystalline Cellulose for strength applications under the CelluForce Impact^TM brand, and optical applications under the CelluForce Allure^TM brand.