Manufacturing Dubreuilville's wood wastes.

Value-added is on the lips of community leaders in many forestry-dependent towns. The town of Dubreuilville in northeastern Ontario is no different with a study underway to determine whether a wood-plastic composite manufacturing facility will work.

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Dr. Luc Duchesne says the project is do-able after his company, Forest Bioproducts Inc., a Sault Ste. Marie-based eco-forestry consulting firm, performed a pre-feasibility study for the town last year.

The next step is to examine potential markets, products and prepare a business plan.

The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and Fed-Nor each chipped in $80,000 for the feasibility study.

Wood-plastic composites are a composite material lumber or timber made of recycled plastic and wood wastes. Its most widespread use is in outdoor decking, especially in the U.S., but it's also used for railings, fences, landscaping timbers, cladding and siding, molding and trim, and window and door frames.

Resistant to moisture and rot, it's branded by North American manufacturers as more environmentally friendly.

"We're going off the beaten path bringing in new technology and a new approach," says Duchesne, a former Canadian Forest Service research scientist. "In most people's blue boxes, there are resins one and two (according to plastic recycling codes). We've seen elsewhere where they're using resins three to seven, the stuff not used in blue boxes."

Duchesne and business partner Norm Jaehrling have met with various Canadian wood-plastic manufacturers, but haven't settled on a manufacturing system that matches the market they want to develop.

Entering the decking market is unlikely, says Duchesne, since lawsuits against some manufacturers using resins one and two have turned that market into a "shambles."

They'll mostly focus on wood-plastic pallets, spacers, and possibly fencing and flooring.

"We're not targeting the commodity market," such as pre-sold lumber products, says Duchesne. "We're targeting niche markets and we'll develop those markets ahead of the manufacturing facility."

Preliminary plans call for a small ten-employee, start-up operation that would truck in recycled plastic waste from towns across Northern Ontario.

"We want to create value for something that would normally be going to the landfill."

Duchesne says he wants to be creative in sourcing raw material, using a combination of bark, mill-generated waste wood and potentially crown rubber from ground-up tires.

Dubreuil Forest Products management has told Duchesne they are interested in the project if it makes sense for the community.

"We want to use bottom of the barrel kind of (wood) waste, to look at what is of absolutely no value to them, even on the secondary market."

The project is one of the outcomes of Dubreuilville's strategic diversification plan launched two years after some local mill layoffs.

Located 310 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie, the community of 1,000 is a classic company town that was literally carved from the bush by the four Quebec-born Dubreuil brothers in 1961.

The brothers, who worked as lumber harvesting contractors, obtained lot concessions and cutting rights from the Algoma Central Railway during the 1950s and created a village of 200 around their sawmill operation.

The town's main industry remains Dubreuil Forest Products, now affiliated with Thunder Bay's Buchanan Forest Products.

Patrick Dionne, a town economic developer officer, says the lumber and wood chip mill has experienced a cyclical ride in recent months.

Forty-five workers were laid off when the sawmill suspended operations in December before two of three shifts were hired back. Sawmill operations were again temporarily suspended in early April when excess chips could not be moved to Marathon Pulp due to mechanical problems at that company.

Despite mill closings and massive job cuts in other forestry-dependent towns, Dionne says Dubreuilville is managing to survive and thrive.

The local economy is gradually improving with the development of the nearby Island Gold Project, 25 kilometres away-a joint venture between Richmont Mines and Patricia Mining. The mine will be in production this year.

"Most of the people here are driving brand new $40,000 diesel trucks, so you basically know what the economy is like around here. New sleds, four-wheelers and RVs, so I guess they're doing pretty well."

www.dubreuilville.ca

By IAN ROSS

Northern Ontario Business