Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台糖) is seeking to expand its award-winning program that turns sugarcane waste into mushroom cultivation packs, the state-run company said.
The company yearly turns 400 tonnes of sugarcane byproduct into cultivation packs, Taisugar said at a news conference in Taipei on Thursday.
The packs contain 50 percent sugarcane waste and 50 percent sawdust, which the company determined to be the “optimal” ratio after experiments, it said, adding that the packs are then “rented” to mushroom farmers.
Photo: Lin Jing-hua, Taipei Times
“The reason we say ‘rent’ rather than sell is because we take back the used packs at the end of the harvest cycle,” Taisugar circular economy head Jan Chang (張建成) said. “We then further compost the used packs with other materials and sell it as compost.”
“This brings additional profit to Taisugar and ensures the packs are not irresponsibly disposed of,” he said, adding that some unscrupulous farmers dump used packs irresponsibly.
“We are trying to create a closed circle,” he said.
Farmers receive a double benefit from the program, as sugarcane waste is supplied to them at NT$2.5 per kilogram compared with about NT$3.4 for hardwood sawdust, which is usually used for growing king oyster mushrooms.
They also receive a 20 to 30 percent boost in yield compared with using pure sawdust, Taisugar said.
The company produces 50,000 tonnes of sugar per year, resulting in 130,000 to 150,000 tonnes of sugarcane waste. About 70 percent of the waste is burnt to generate electricity and the rest are composted, leaving room for growth in the cultivation pack program.
“There’s definitely demand for more from farmers,” Chang said.
Taisugar is working on different ways to expand the program, including cultivation packs with a higher percentage of sugarcane waste and recycling the plastic bags that hold the substrate.
“The technology is there to recycle the plastic bags used to make the cultivation packs, but we are still working on the economic feasibility,” Chang said.
While cane sugar once played a vital role in the growth of the nation’s economy, acreages have been declining as the cost of producing sugar has increased compared with imported sugar.
“We cannot compete on price with a country like Brazil with huge farms that allow for mechanized harvesting, but sugar is a necessity and we will keep some domestic production for food security reasons,” Taisugar secretariat director Hsiao Kuang-hung (蕭光宏) said.
The company’s cultivation pack program has won top honors in the “innovative service” category of the Taiwan Circular Economy Awards last month.
However, the program itself dates back to 2014.
“Before the circular economy became a buzzword, Taisugar has been working on minimizing our environmental impact and maximizing our resources,” Hsiao said.
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
‘SACRED MOUNTAIN’: The chipmaker can form joint ventures abroad, except in China, but like other firms, it needs government approval for large investments Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) needs government permission for any overseas joint ventures (JVs), but there are no restrictions on making the most advanced chips overseas other than for China, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. US media have said that TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, has been in talks for a stake in Intel Corp. Neither company has confirmed the talks, but US President Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of taking away the US’ semiconductor business and said he wants the industry back
RSS