Taisugar creates partnership to recycle carbon in sugar processing

Taipei, Dec. 17 (CNA) Taiwan Sugar Corp. (Taisugar), the National Atomic Research Institute (NARI) and Nice Enterprise Co., Ltd., signed a memorandum of understanding 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, according to a Taisugar statement.

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 Economics Minister 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, 2026, the refinery is expected to harvest about 241,000 metric tonnes of sugar cane and produce around 21,000 metric tons of sugar, the corporation said.