Federal Ministers Visit EcoSynthetix to Announce Investment in Canada's Bioeconomy

BURLINGTON, ON, April 26, 2019 /CNW/ - EcoSynthetix Inc. ECO, a renewable chemicals company that produces a portfolio of commercially proven bio-based products, today announced that Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, and Karina Gould, Minister of Democratic Institutions, visited the Company's Centre of Innovation in Burlington, Ontario to announce federal funding for the bioproducts sector.

The Federal Government announced a federal investment of up to $11.2 million to the Bioproducts Cluster under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The cluster, led by Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, will include an additional $10.9 million in contributions from industry, for a total investment of $22.1 million. The goal is to provide alternatives to non-renewable based materials that will help meet Canada's commitment to reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and shift towards a renewable-based economy.

"Ecosynthetix is an important partner in Canada's transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon economy. As a leader in biochemical innovation, they continue to provide opportunities for job growth and economic development here in southern Ontario, while creating new markets for Canada's farmers," said Minister Gould, the Member of Parliament for Burlington.

One of the projects that will be supported from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership includes an investment of up to $2 million to EcoSynthetix to develop new green resins for adhesive binders in wood products. This could potentially benefit the environment by providing the construction industry with a greener building product.

"Consumers, retailers and manufacturers are searching for sustainable alternatives that offer both value and comparable performance to traditional materials that are non-renewable or use harmful chemicals. We have developed and commercialized a platform technology that achieves both of these important attributes for sustainable alternatives, value and performance," said Jeff MacDonald, CEO of EcoSynthetix. "Not only will this funding allow us to invest in additional product development and human capital at our Centre of Innovation in Burlington - it supports our work in the wood composites market with our No-Added Formaldehyde DuraBind™ resin that targets particle board, medium density fibreboard and orientated strand board which we commercialized in 2016."

About EcoSynthetix Inc. (www.ecosynthetix.com)

EcoSynthetix offers a range of sustainable engineered biopolymers that allow customers to reduce their use of harmful materials, such as formaldehyde and styrene-based chemicals. The Company's flagship products, DuraBind™ and EcoSphere^®, are used to manufacture wood composites, paper and packaging, and enable performance improvements, economic benefits and sustainability. The Company is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange ECO.

Associated Links:

Canadian Agricultural Partnership 

BioIndustrial Innovation Canada 

SOURCE EcoSynthetix Inc.

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