CANADA (News release) -- Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) has awarded Red Leaf Pulp Ltd. $3.8 million to commercialize an innovative and game-changing pulping technology using wheat straw and other sustainable agricultural resources along with wood-based pulp in traditional applications.

With its technology, Red Leaf will enhance utilization of existing agricultural resources, support the agriculture industry, and lower the carbon intensity associated with producing paper and packaging materials. As demand for paper products rises due to the shift away from plastic and polystyrene use, Red Leaf's technology offers a sustainable alternative to responding to this demand by using a fibre source that does not contribute to deforestation. This funding will also assist in co-product commercialization efforts that will potentially allow Red Leaf's facility to become planet positive.

Red Leaf Pulp's initial plant under development in Regina, Saskatchewan will have the capacity to produce approximately 182,000 tonnes of market pulp annually from wheat straw collected from local producers when it commences production in 2024.

Red Leaf Pulp Ltd. is a private company developing the first non-wood pulp mill in Canada, producing a unique natural-coloured product demanded by the $350 Billion paper and packaging market.