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.
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