Maple Leaf Foods Inc (MFI)

[Copperfield]

Rothsay moves to offer renewable energy for transportation - invests $14.5 million to produce biodiesel


Rothsay to invest over $14.5 million to produce biodiesel, a proven alternative fuel

Ville Sainte-Catherine, Monday, June 14 – Rothsay is now firmly committed to producing biodiesel, a totally “green” alternative fuel that has proven its worth, particularly with the very conclusive findings of the BIOBUS project, launched in Montréal in 2002. The company will dedicate nearly $14.5 million in total, $7 million of incremental investment in the coming months to expand biodiesel production at its Ville Sainte-Catherine plant in the outskirts south of Montréal. The 100% private investment will strengthen Rothsay’s position among the leading biodiesel producers in Canada. Work on the expansion will begin this summer and be completed next spring.

Rothsay, a fully owned subsidiary of Maple Leaf Foods Group Inc., specializes in recycling agro industry wastes (animal fat and recycled cooking oil), the main raw materials for producing biodiesel. With the investment it announced today, Rothsay will create over a dozen positions for specialists (chemists) and maintain some 60 other jobs, not counting indirect employment. It will also boost its present biodiesel production capacity of 4 million litres by 35 million litres annually, with a possible further expansion to 70 million litres.

Rothsay’s Ville Sainte-Catherine site is home to Canada's first plant for the commercial production of biodiesel.

“We are convinced that biodiesel is a winning solution, both economically and environmentally,” declared Claude Bourgault, Québec General Manager for Rothsay. “Biodiesel is a high-performance, easy-to-use fuel that helps tangibly and significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) and other polluting emissions. Biodiesel has proven its worth and provides Québec with a unique opportunity to develop a very high-potential ‘green’ industry,” he added.

Québec has an abundant supply of fats. An estimated 90% of biodiesel produced in Québec could come from existing sources of fat with no pressure on farmland or threat to the environment.

“Without a doubt, biodiesel is among the future solutions for sustainable transportation. It also provides an industry hard-hit in recent years (mad cow disease) with a unique opportunity for intelligent recycling by capitalizing on wastes that are plentiful in Québec. And its a profitable solution,” concluded Claude Bourgault.