Newmarket company Pulp Moulded Products hoped it could provide an environmentally friendly option to fulfill the high demand for masks in the pandemic.
The company received a $300,000 grant from the federal government’s NRCan IFIT Program in 2020 to help develop a prototype for a pulp paper face mask, completely biodegradable, using recycled material. The company hoped it could be an alternative to the plastic, blue disposable masks.
But company president Brent Hughes said the market never materialized and the product didn't catch on. As large quantities of the disposable masks came in, there was little room for a costlier alternatives.
“Being new to the market, versus what people were buying from overseas, there just wasn’t as much demand,” Hughes said. “As much people loved the concept of a breathable, recyclable mask, compostable mask, biodegradable mask, they just weren’t ready to spend the additional funds to take those on.”
Companies across the country and locally stepped up to meet the demand for personal protective equipment and sanitizer at the start of the pandemic when supplies were low. But as governments and companies turned to larger suppliers, some smaller products have been squeezed out.
Some Canadian PPE suppliers have expressed concerns about procurement and ensuring domestic suppliers could compete for government contracts.
Hughes said the high-demand market changed to one with a lot of supply, as more companies came in. The government has spent more than $2.5 billion on domestic PPE procurement since the start of the pandemic. with some contracts being awarded overseas.
For instance, BYD Canada Company, a Chinese-owned business with a plant in Newmarket, garnered more than $375 million in federal PPE contracts, including more than $252 million for sanitizer.
Hughes said he was disappointed when the province passed over the masks for the Ontario Together Fund last year, which provides funding for businesses to transition to supply the health-care sector. He said they lost the opportunity to leverage government connections to find a market for their supply.
“That was unfortunate, but they obviously had criteria. They felt those masks, that mask program, didn’t achieve them,” he said.
But not all smaller producers have had the same struggles.
Newmarket's Market Brewing Company launched Bare Hands Sanitizer last year to help supply Southlake Regional Health Centre and other organizations seeking the product. General manager Piers Simpkin said although the market has changed, they have kept a loyal following for the local product.
“We keep getting told it’s still the best around,” Simpkin said. “Still have the licence and everything, so we’ll be doing it —- maybe not forever, but as long as it’s really needed and people are requesting it.”
Market Brewing Company did not receive grants from upper levels of government, Simpkin said. After spending $50,000 to start making sanitizer, he said they were frustrated on seeing Canada go for more overseas suppliers later in the pandemic, rather than purchase from smaller companies.
“We weren't trying to make money hand over fist,” he said. “It’d be nice to have more research on their end."
But Simpkin said the product has fared well by staying modest, instead of trying to have it distributed at big stores as some other sanitizer-making breweries did.
“We’re not going after the huge accounts,” Simpkin said. “Demand (has) always stayed consistent. We’re not overproducing, we’re not underproducing.”
Hughes said his business is still faring well in producing other types of PPE, such as gloves, even as competition has increased. But he lamented the environmental impact of all the disposable masks. Studies have been launched into the waste caused by discarded PPE.
“In 25 years, pull out a blue surgical mask, and it’s still going to look like a blue surgical mask, and it’s going to be disappointing.”
