BioIndustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) is among 13 recipients of $6.5 million from the federal and Ontario agriculture departments to undertake innovative projects.
BIC project manager Michael Faba said the money is supporting pre-commercial research.
He said the idea is to process a low value material, from a farm or food production facility, and turn it into something useful.
BIC is located in an industrial innovation park at Alvinston.
"We're not getting into the large-scale commercialization opportunities or facilities yet, but this is everything from proof of concept at lab scale to some more advanced lab bench work," said Faba.
"We might get into early pilotation where we're starting to move things off the bench and really scale things up."
"The project in Alvinston is working on novel or new soil amendments for growing various crops," he said. "In doing so, they're using a residual material that's also produced from agriculture.
“So, it's making things more of a cyclical model from the field to the field. Overall, it lowers their carbon footprint in doing so. This is a nationally focused program however, as projects scale up and with the expertise and facilities that we have in Sarnia-Lambton, there's always the potential that something could come here, and site here, and create jobs."
Faba said there are also projects in the works in places like Guelph, Waterloo, Toronto and Nova Scotia.
