History

Founded in 2013, the Renewable Materials Research Centre (CRMR) is funded by the FRQNT under its strategic grouping program and brings together research scientists from the former Wood Sciences Research Centre (CRB, ULaval), the Lignocellulosique Materials Research Centre (CRML, UQTR), the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, SEREX (Cégep de Rimouski), Innofibre (Cégep de Trois-Rivières), FPInnovations, Cecobois, the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec and Natural Resources Canada. The CRMR has 44 research scientists and more than 150 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows working collaboratively on research projects within the field of wood and non-woody plant based renewable materials.

For the first time in Quebec, the CRMR has brought together university and college scientists to work on the development of  new and innovative solid wood, wood fibre and non-wood plant fibre-based renewable products. Our main goal is to conduct research and provide training in the responsible use of lignocellulosic and forest resources to meet present and future environmental and economic challenges.

Objectives

  1. Determine the physical, mechanical, chemical and thermal properties of wood, agricultural plants and other plant fibers;
  2. Develop wood and biomass processing methods, design innovative and eco-responsible products and systems and develop and promote extractives and biopolymers resulting from these processing methods;
  3. Assess the behavior and performance of innovative products and systems and analyze their life cycle;
  4. Analyze the needs of society for renewable materials and the economics, governance mechanisms and marketing of innovative products and systems.