German manufacturer of ceramic bathroom equipment Duravit establishes its first factory in North America in Matane, Quebec. This plant will also be the first so-called “carbon neutral” plant in this industry.

Announced Thursday in the Matane industrial park, this establishment is planned for $90 million. The plant already under construction is scheduled to start production in 2025.

Duravit expects to create 240 jobs when its factory is at full capacity of 450,000 pieces of ceramics per year.

According to information disclosed Thursday, Duravit chose to locate in Quebec “due to the availability of clean energy” to power its carbon-neutral plant.

According to Duravit, “The heart of the project is to use a clean energy source to fire the ceramic at a temperature of 1260 degrees Celsius. »

Therefore, instead of powering such a furnace conventionally with natural gas, Duravit says that powering it with hydroelectricity “will reduce CO2 (carbon dioxide) production by approximately 9,000 tonnes per year. »

As for the choice of the Matane industrial park, Duravit attributes it in particular to its access to a deep-water port on the St. Lawrence. The German company also highlights the ease of supplying minerals from Labrador that will be used in the manufacture of ceramics.

According to Duravit, this easy access to raw materials and maritime transport will avoid the production of some 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

In addition, to encourage it to set up in Matane, Duravit obtains government assistance announced Thursday to the tune of $30 million in total.

This injection of public funds is split into two portions: a $19 million interest-free loan from the federal government’s “Regional Economic Growth through Innovation” program, and an $11 million interest-free and “partially forgivable” loan from of the government corporation Investissement Québec.