Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台灣糖業), the National Atomic Research Institute (NARI) and Nice Enterprise Co (耐斯) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Tuesday to collaborate on a project aimed at recycling carbon generated in the sugar-making process.
Under the partnership, carbon-capture technologies and equipment developed by the NARI will be installed in the chimneys of the state-run sugar producer’s factories to convert carbon dioxide emissions into sodium bicarbonate.
The sodium bicarbonate will then be used by Nice, a Taiwan-based cosmetics producer, as an ingredient in cleaning products such as soap and laundry detergent, Taisugar said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
The partnership is not Taisugar’s first foray into circular economy strategies that use waste materials productively, with the company having long used recycled sugarcane bagasse — the fibrous residue that remains after crushing sugar cane — as fuel.
Huang Cheng-chung (黃正忠), head of Taisugar’s sugar business division, described the partnership as building a new circular system that will tie sugar cane fields to factory chimneys and sugar production to cleaning products.
Nice factory manager Chang Chih-yu (張志毓) concurred, saying the MOU will create a "fully green production site," while NARI vice president Chen Ming- huei (陳明輝) said it represented a significant step in converting scientific research into an industrial application.
Tuesday also saw Taisugar open its Huwei sugar refinery in Yunlin County to prepare for the 2025-2026 sugar production season.
At the opening ceremony, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lai Chien-hsin (賴建信) highlighted the Huwei refinery’s embrace of the circular economy, saying it not only used bagasse for fuel, but made feed and fertilizers from molasses.
From Tuesday to April 1 next year, the refinery is expected to harvest about 241,000 tonnes of sugar cane and produce around 21,000 tonnes of sugar, the company said.
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