Seaweed factory promises 60 to 80 new jobs 2/6/11
A large scale £20 million seaweed chemical factory which could create up to 80 new jobs is planned for Lochboisdale.
Though a secret to islanders, the proposal, codenamed Project Fingal, has been developing since last year. Scientists and chemical students at Strathclyde University are extensively working on the project.
In a pitch to potential investors at Strathclyde University, Ayrshire-
Mr Mackie said, at full scale, the factory could generate £30 to £50 million in revenue and the firm is looking for people willing to move to South Uist to work for them. Up to 60 permanent jobs could be created at the processing plant on top of employment for cutters.
Island businessman Angus Macmillan is an advisor to Marine Biopolymers and is
assisting it in its aim to manufacture industrial quantities of “special and fine chemicals” from alginates.
Mr MacKie introduced Mr Macmillan to the forum and explained: “Angus is heavily involved in a major project to enhance Lochboisdale as a port.”
This apparently refers to Mr Macmillan’s role in Stòras Uibhist, where he is actively
involved in the multi-
Mr Macmillan is also one of two directors on Lochboisdale Development, the new legal entity set up by the Stòras to for a £10 million regeneration project which includes opening up Gasaigh Island for industrial and commercial use. Marine Biopolymers is considering building its processing plant on Gasaigh after a causeway and roads are built .
The firm intends to start test manufacturing on the island within months. If successful a large factory would be required to gear up production by 2013.
David Mackie told the forum: “We want to move to a pilot plant scale in South Uist. We want to start work on the fine chemicals part.”
In October, the company won a £70,000 Scottish Enterprise grant. It was also awarded funding from the Technology Strategy Board. In February, a Strathclyde Links award of £10,000 was also given to Dr Siddharth Patwardhan and Dr Bruce Postlethwaite of Strathclyde’s University’s Chemical Engineering department for a consultancy project with Marine Biopolymers.
Two types of seaweed, understood to be kelp and bladder wrack, known locally as tangle and Asco, from South Uist, Benbecula and North Uist would be processed using a system claimed to be cheaper and four times faster than older traditional extraction methods
It’s unclear if the claimed “faster” process is speedier than more modern efficient methods used by overseas seaweed competitors.
The presentation did not explain how the factory would get rid of large amounts of effluent waste expected from the manufacturing process. To avoid unnecessary pollution or harm to salmon farms, shellfish or the shore, legal consents would have to be obtained from environmental body SEPA if there was any prospect of discharging effluents into watercourses or Loch Boisdale.
An alginate factory would also need a steady supply of large quantities of fresh water for manufacturing.
Seaweed harvesting rights belongs to each estate landlord though it is unclear if there are sufficient amounts of seaweed available, even on the Scottish west coast, for the sheer scale of the factory.
The fine chemicals in the highly competitive but growing market would be supplied to food, drugs and nutraceutical industries. While cheap supplies from Asia dominate the market, the company says it is in contact with interested users.
Huw Francis, chief executive of Stòras Uibhist, said he had various discussions with Marine Biopolymers over their plans.
About the prospect of them building a large factory at Lochboisdale’s Gasaigh Island he said that to date “no agreements were in place.”
Mr Francis said the estate would be anxious to ensure there were no adverse effects from effluent going into watercourses but primarily it is SEPA’s responsibility to regulate the waste discharge.
He said the estate had not assigned seaweed rights to anyone and encouraged the traditional harvesting of seaweed by crofters.
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