In an effort to create an agricultural industry without waste, the Agriculture Ministry has been researching ways to use surplus resources in fertilizer, livestock feed, energy, and other materials. This Tuesday, they released the results of their recycling efforts from recent years.
2023 Data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics indicated that Taiwan’s annual agricultural waste output exceeds 10 million tons. Most of this waste is generated in the production process of rice and livestock and poultry manure.
Over the past decade, the Agriculture Ministry has partnered with research institutions to develop over 200 technologies for agricultural waste reuse. The technologies developed include biogas power generation, fertilizer production technology, and the use of biogas slurry to irrigate crops. Straw decomposition bacteria have also been developed to mitigate pollution caused by open-air burning of waste.
The ministry said these efforts reduce not only waste but also dependence on imported resources, offering examples of discarded mushroom growth kits that can be made into cultivation media in place of imported peat, or pineapple and lemon peels can be made into livestock feed in place of imported fodder.
Regarding sustainable development, the ministry also demonstrated that rice straw pulp can be made into environmentally friendly packaging materials in place of plastic, while oyster shell powder can be used for marine ecological restoration.