Port Alberni mill receives $4.5M to begin producing food packaging

The company says the investment will remove production bottlenecks and upgrade a pair of paper machines at the Port Alberni facility. (Paper Excellence)

A longstanding paper mill in Port Alberni, B.C., will begin making food grade paper for the first time in its decades-long history.

Since 1946, the Catalyst Port Alberni mill has produced mostly printing and writing grade paper.

However, the company says demand for those types of products has been steadily declining over the years.

"Transitioning to food grade papers means meeting growing market demand, providing sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic serving containers, and advancing B.C.’s circular economy," said Catalyst's parent company, Paper Excellence, in a release Wednesday.

The company adds that it will use a "unique" pulping technique that it developed that will reduce waste when making the new food packaging paper.

Paper Excellence is receiving $4.5 million from the federal government's Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program to update some if its equipment to make the new product.

IFIT is designed to provide capital funding to Canadian forestry companies to diversify the products and "ensure industry competitiveness," according to Paper Excellence.

The Catalyst Port Alberni mill employs 310 people full time on Vancouver Island, according to the company, which says the mill also creates 800 indirect jobs in B.C.

The mill also contributes $500 million to the B.C. economy annually, and pays about $4.1 million in local taxes each year, the company says.