Trahan-Cedar leaf - IFEAT

of the high water content in the leaves. Temperature also dictates the yields of the cedar leafextraction process. The best weather for trimming cedar leaf is during warm days and cool nights.There is a 30 to 50 percent difference inextraction yields between cultivated and wildleaves: 0.60% to 0.75% for cultivated cedar, andonly 0.40% to 0.50% for wild cedar. Other thanthe crowded growing conditions in the wild, thedifference in yield is due to the great care givento ornamental hedges in most gardens. Cedarhedges are by far the most popular type ofvegetation used by Canadian homeowners as aproperty border or privacy screen.The Outaouais region, part of the cedar belt of Canada, is home to an innovative entrepreneur whocombined his love of nature and business talent to become a pioneer in the field of producing essentialoil from recycled material in Canada. He has successfully turned what would otherwise have beenwaste into a sustainable supply of quality rawmaterial. After 15 years of operation, RecycledCedar of Outaouais receives an average of 200calls from gardeners for cedar leaf clipping pickupa day. A carefully dispatched group of trucksand a well-planned production facility ensuretimely pick-up and processing of leaves.Each year over 2,000 tons of cedar leaf isextracted at this facility. These 2,000 tonsrepresents 50% of all the cedar trimmings in theregion. Of these 2,000 tons, 80-85% are from thesame hedges year after year.The harvesting season follows the maintenance needs of these ornamental shrubs and screens.Homeowners usually trim their hedges in late June - early July to stimulate growth and thereforeincrease the fullness of the tree; and/or mid August until October to prepare their hedges for thewinter.Trimmings destined for extraction are often picked up and processed the same day or within 24 hoursof trimming. Great care is also taken not to let the leaves dry out in transport to the extraction facilityby tightly covering the load.202