Animal manure used to spell trouble for Taipei Zoo officials, as it costs millions of New Taiwan dollars each year to dispose of the waste, but thanks to technological improvements, the manure is now being used as fertilizer in the zoo and is considered nothing less than “brown gold.”
The more than 2,500 animals at the Taipei Zoo produce about 750 tonnes of manure each year, which roughly equals the weight of 250 elephants, the Taipei Zoo said yesterday.
In the past, it cost about NT$2.4 million (US$73,137) each year to do away with the excrement, not to mention the environmental cost of burning the waste in incinerators, which creates carbon dioxide, the zoo said.
Since 2001, the zoo has invested in a “turn feces into gold” program, but it was not able to produce a stable supply of organic fertilizer from its animal manure and plant compost because of a lack of proper equipment.
However, in recent years with improvements in techniques, the upgrading of equipment and the purchasing of wood chippers, the zoo has been able to turn manure and plant compost into organic fertilizer in about four months, it said.
The 300 tonnes of fertilizer produced each year are used to grow plants and trees. For example, the fertilizer has been used to grow about 2,550 eucalyptus trees to feed the zoo’s koalas — saving close to NT$10 million yearly in fertilizer and other costs.
The zoo is also cooperating with schools in Taipei to launch activities in March and September each year to teach children about organic fertilizers.
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