BCBusiness

INVEST in BC 2 0 2 4 15 Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association in special partnership with BCBusiness. and wood products have environmental benefits with the low embodied carbon of wood-based building solutions that use locally sourced materials. Looking to more advanced opportunities in the supply chain, forestry is nowadays connected to potential advancements in the bioeconomy. The forest industry in B.C. strives to use virtually 100 percent of every tree. Almost half becomes lumber for high-value wood products, with the rest becoming residual wood chips used to create pulp and paper, packaging, novel bioproducts and bioenergy, a growing part of the sustainable economy. By carefully managing forests, extracting value from every part of a tree, using wood residues and waste for value-added manufacturing and energy, while replanting trees, it's possible for B.C. and Canada to deliver not only a vibrant bioeconomy but also renewable energy growth. New technologies are being developed to better manage forest health and decarbonize operations. Bioproducts are being developed that can replace non- renewable materials in items like medical face masks, asphalt for roads and natural- based glue and adhesives for wood panels in houses and buildings. Much of the manufacturing innovation coming out of British Columbia today can be traced back to those primary industries long established in the province. • TOP RIGHT: ISTOCK/URBAZON; MIDDLE: ISTOCK/PIXDELUXE company that mines iron ore, which is then provided to a secondary manufacturer to make into steel products. Those are then often distributed to tertiary industry that manufactures other goods such as equipment (planes, cars, tractors, machinery), parts, tools, et cetera," Munro continues. "Or these products could go to a tertiary sector in the construction sector for building homes, bridges and the like." EMC's members provide vivid examples of the synergy between primary industries and manufacturing. Visscher Speciality Products of Chilliwack sources Canadian lumber that has been harvested and then milled for their outdoor living space products. AE Concrete of Surrey sources Canadian primary-sector inputs like sand and gravel that are mined by primary industries and then used in its engineered precast products for electrical vaults, custom chambers and so on. A food and beverage example would be JD Sweid Foods. The Langley meat processor sources beef, poultry, pork, and plant- based products for its meatless line from the agriculture sector. The Value-Added Accelerators, meanwhile, is a related program developed in partnership between the B.C. Ministry of Forests, the Council of Forest Industries (COFI), the Value-Added Coalition and the B.C. First Nations Forestry Council. A healthy and stable primary sector is critical to an integrated and robust secondary sector. A related consideration lies within cost structures across the supply chain for forest products; secondary and value- added manufacturers can benefit from the infrastructure maintained by the primary producers, with the efficiencies that come through economies of scale for operations. The primary forest industry can benefit the manufacturing of building materials for housing and non-residential projects, FOUNDATION: Teck Resources' Highland Valley Copper mine near Kamloops (top); the forest industry strives to use 100% of every tree (below) VALUE ADDED: Sectors from metal fabrication to food processing benefit from synergies with primary producers (left)

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