KUNMING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Bagasse, a by-product of the sugarcane industry, was once a headache in Gengma County, a major sugarcane planting area in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
About 120,000 farmers in Gengma grow over 27,300 hectares of sugarcane. However, the 400,000 plus tonnes of bagasse -- the dry pulp residue left after the production of 280,000 tonnes of sugar every year in the county, once had no other use and could only be burned or composted, generating little economic value but causing huge environmental pollution.
In 2018, a visit by representatives of several enterprises in Shanghai identified a business opportunity in bagasse.
"The cellulose and lignin in bagasse are good industrial feedstock, and we immediately conducted a study for the project of molding bagasse as an environmentally friendly material, which turned out feasible," said Qiao Xingding, head of Ecocycle New Material (Yunnan) Co., Ltd.
After evaluating transportation costs and other factors, the company decided to build a factory in the county.
The plant, with the support of authorities from both Shanghai and Yunnan, was built from scratch in just two years. It currently has 10 production lines and the annual production capacity can reach 30,000 tonnes with a market value of 600 million yuan (about 88.6 million U.S. dollars) once all 18 planned production lines are in operation.
"Our pollution-free products are welcomed by some airlines and large chain catering enterprises. Some orders are even scheduled for the year after next," Qiao noted.
An industrial park has also been constructed, aiming to become the largest demonstration area for comprehensive utilization of bagasse in Yunnan Province.
"The output value of the pulp board made from bagasse was only 3,000 yuan per tonne, but now it is processed into molded products, and the output value per tonne has increased to about 20,000 yuan, some can even be sold up to 100,000 yuan," said Zhong Xiaorong, an official with the industrial park.
According to Zhong, since 2019, about 30 enterprises have settled in the park, forming an industrial chain involving the deep processing of sugar, wine, paper, feed, fertilizer and new materials.
"Simply put, we vow to maximize the economic value of sugarcane," said Ma Yongde, who serves as director of the local industrial development center.
Zhang Jingwei, deputy head of Gengma County, said that Gengma is accelerating cooperation with several scientific research institutes to expand the high-end product portfolio and develop a cluster of sugarcane-related industries.
"And we're also negotiating with relevant companies to use sugarcane extract in cosmetics in the future," said Zhang. ■
