Federal government pledges $49 million for $3.5-billion Alberta plastics project

CALGARY — A $3.5-billion project to turn Alberta propane into plastic pellets for the manufacture of consumer products is to receive $49 million from the federal government.

Ottawa says the money provided to Calgary-based Inter Pipeline Ltd. through the $1.6-billion Strategic Innovation Fund will help secure jobs and support the environmentally cleaner production of plastic products.

The facility is already under construction in Strathcona County, just northeast of Edmonton, with completion scheduled for late 2021.

The company is to increase jobs for post-secondary students and women in trades, while continuing to fund research and spending $10 million to find ways to reduce plastic waste.

The Inter Pipeline project was given $200 million in provincial royalty credits in 2016, while Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Ltd. was handed $300 million in credits for a similar proposal.

Last month, Pembina announced it had decided with its partner, Kuwait’s Petrochemical Industries Co., to go ahead with a $4.5-billion polypropylene project also to be located northeast of Edmonton.

The Canadian Press