Developing a Green Circular Economy for Arundo donax: Promotion and Practice of Arundo donax in the Animal Husbandry Industry
2025-07-23
In recent years, with the continuous improvement of people's living standards, the demand for "meat baskets" has become increasingly diversified and strong, mainly reflected in the scale and intensive development of China's pig, cattle, sheep, and poultry industries. According to authoritative data, the national poultry output in 2024 reached 17.34 billion, and the total output of pig, cattle, sheep, and poultry meat exceeded 96.63 million tons, achieving steady growth year-on-year. However, while large-scale farming continues to improve, the contradiction between the surge in livestock wastewater discharge and environmental protection is becoming increasingly prominent. In particular, many small and medium-sized farms lack sufficient investment in environmental protection facilities and outdated treatment technologies, resulting in substandard waste treatment. This situation has become a prominent bottleneck restricting the green transformation of the industry.
The Tianjin Environmental Governance Industry Association, as an industry organization in the ecological environment industry, has launched in-depth industry dialogues around the core issue of "balancing the development of animal husbandry and ecological environmental protection with the concept of a green circular economy."
Lin Hongxin, President of the Association and Chairman of Redsun Group, pointed out in the dialogue: "The ecological restoration path centered on polyploid giant reed can be applied to the treatment of livestock and poultry manure, forming a 'water treatment purification-giant reed ecological filtration-waste recycling full-process closed-loop system', becoming an effective implementation path for 'zero-pollution' in the breeding industry. Redsun's philosophy is to harmlessly treat, reduce, and resource organic solid waste such as sewage sludge and livestock manure at the lowest cost, achieving a zero-waste city; to improve unused land into fertile land and plant giant reed, achieving green mountains and clear waters; and to process harvested giant reed products into biomass fuels or biomass products to replace fossil fuels and achieve carbon neutrality."
I. Starting with water, laying a solid foundation for the treatment of various livestock wastewater
Livestock wastewater mainly comes from animal urine, feces, and site flushing. These wastewaters contain a large amount of organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients, as well as pollutants such as suspended solids, pathogenic microorganisms, and heavy metals. If discharged without effective treatment, it will cause great harm to the environment and human health. For example, the spread of the 2019 H1N1 influenza pandemic was related to the spread of viruses in the breeding environment. In addition, even if livestock wastewater is treated and discharged up to standard, if there is a lack of synergistic purification of the natural ecosystem (such as plant adsorption and microbial community degradation), residual pollutants can still continuously penetrate the soil and pollute groundwater. Long-term accumulation will cause irreversible damage to the regional ecosystem.
Redsun has been deeply involved in the water industry for many years and has built the Dagang Huanke Lantian Wastewater Treatment Plant with a daily treatment capacity of 40,000 tons of domestic sewage, the Tianjin Ruide Sain Regenerative Water Plant with a daily treatment capacity of 30,000 tons of pure water, the Ruixi Wastewater Treatment Plant with a daily treatment capacity of 10,000 tons of industrial wastewater, and the Saihong Composting Plant with a daily treatment capacity of 400 tons of sludge, straw, and livestock and poultry manure. It has a complete set of environmental treatment service technologies, core equipment, and technical teams, and can provide the most economical and safest ecological solutions according to the types of farmed animals and various application scenarios.
In the wastewater treatment process, Redsun innovatively integrates advanced anaerobic and aerobic treatment processes with membrane separation technology. This not only achieves solid-liquid separation and rapid degradation of pollutants, ensuring stable and up-to-standard effluent, but also achieves sustainable ecological environment optimization through planting giant reed to shield tailwater penetration. Compared with traditional processes, this treatment project can reduce treatment costs by 20%, with good environmental benefits and economic value. At the same time, Redsun will utilize all the resources generated in the above treatment processes, such as sludge and solid waste. Relying on Saihong's self-developed high-temperature aerobic fermentation technology, it will be converted into efficient organic fertilizer rich in humus and beneficial bacteria for returning to the field. Planting experiments have shown that this fertilizer can significantly improve the soil aggregate structure, repair various barren, compacted, and saline-alkali soils, and promote a 25% increase in the yield of vegetables and fruits and a 30% increase in the yield of economic crops such as corn and rice. This effectively achieves recycling and reuse, achieving outstanding results in the construction of zero-waste cities. This also provides upfront support for Redsun's development of biomass energy.
Application Scenarios
Pig Farming
High-concentration organic matter: Pigs' feed is mainly composed of grains and plants, and their excrement contains a large amount of organic matter, especially nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients.
High nitrogen and phosphorus content: Pig farming wastewater often contains high concentrations of ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N) and total phosphorus (TP).
Strong odor: Pig farming wastewater, due to its high content of protein decomposition products (such as urea and ammonia) and organic matter, is prone to fermentation and odor generation.
Water quality indicators: COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand): Usually between 3000-10000 mg/L (high concentration).
Ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N): 10-150 mg/L, relatively high.
Total nitrogen (TN): Approximately 50-150 mg/L.
Total phosphorus (TP): Approximately 10-50 mg/L.
Suspended solids (SS): As high as 5000-8000 mg/L.
pH value: Approximately between 6.5-8.5.
Cattle Farming
Large pollution load and high pollution concentration in cattle farms (especially high PH), lignin in manure is difficult to decompose, and easy to clog.
High suspended solids and relatively low organic matter: Cattle manure and urine have high suspended solids and relatively high solid organic matter content, but the nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations are lower than those of pigs.
High amount of crude fiber: Cattle feed contains a large amount of crude fiber, such as pasture, so its wastewater may contain some organic matter that is difficult to degrade.
Water quality indicators: COD: 500-3000 mg/L.
Ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N): 5-50 mg/L.
Total nitrogen (TN): 20-70 mg/L.
Total phosphorus (TP): 5-25 mg/L.
Suspended solids (SS): 2000-5000 mg/L.
pH value: Usually between 7-8.
Sheep Farming
Lower wastewater volume and organic matter: Sheep are relatively small, producing less excrement and wastewater, resulting in a lower overall wastewater pollution load. Lower nitrogen and phosphorus content: Sheep excrement contains lower levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other elements. Higher solid waste: Sheep manure may contain a higher proportion of fiber and solid waste.
Water quality indicators: COD: 400-2000 mg/L.
Ammonia nitrogen (NH₃-N): 5-30 mg/L.
Total nitrogen (TN): 15-50 mg/L.
Total phosphorus (TP): 5-20 mg/L.
Suspended solids (SS): 1500-3000 mg/L.
pH value: Usually between 7-8.
II. Constructing a Phragmites australis wetland to enhance the sustainable purification function of the ecosystem
In the field of water ecological governance research, Phragmites australis, with its developed root network and efficient metabolic mechanism, has been proven to have a strong adsorption and transformation capacity for nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals, and other substances in wastewater. The polyploid Phragmites australis “Green Oasis No. 1” developed and cultivated by the Redsun research team integrates high yield, flood tolerance, cold resistance, soil improvement, and water purification, acting as a "natural filter." Studies have shown that polyploid Phragmites australis can withstand water environments with salinity of 6‰, TN 40mg/L, TP 6mg/L, and COD 500mg/L. It purifies water by intercepting suspended solids, inhibiting eutrophication, and reducing heavy metal ions. Most farms have reserved land and isolated areas where "Green Oasis No. 1" can be planted as a wastewater treatment ecological barrier to further remove residual nitrogen and phosphorus from the water (the removal rate of total nitrogen and total phosphorus can reach over 60% during the peak growing season of Phragmites australis), forming a Phragmites australis wetland for "controlling pollution with plants." This provides a more environmentally friendly and safe practical path for large-scale farming.
III. Phragmites australis biomass energy: Creating a new engine for enterprise operation efficiency improvement
Each year, the "Phragmites australis wetland" will harvest a large amount of biomass, which, after screening and crushing, can be directly used as high-quality fuel for heating in farms. The calorific value of polyploid Phragmites australis is 3800-4400 kcal/kg. Compared with biomass of the same price, self-cultivation and self-use can save 40% of fuel costs for farms. The combustion of Phragmites australis biomass has low sulfur (sulfur content <0.05%), low chlorine (chlorine content <0.69%), low ash (ash content <4%), and other corrosion-resistant characteristics, as well as the significant advantage of not easily coking (potassium content <1.48%, sodium content <0.03%). This can effectively extend the service life of biomass boilers, promote a continuous decrease in the comprehensive cost of enterprises, and form an operational advantage that enhances the competitiveness of enterprises. As a leading enterprise in the field of biomass energy, Redsun pays more attention to the needs of customers throughout the energy consumption cycle. The group has pioneered a modernized supply system centered on "stable quality, stable output, stable cost, and guaranteed supply," building a full-chain service network from Phragmites australis raw material planting and storage to processing and distribution. It has provided stable guarantees for heating and power generation enterprises and received consistent praise from customers. This innovative concept is also highly consistent with the needs of farm scenarios. It can effectively resist the risks of fluctuations in energy and electricity prices and, with "stability" as its foundation, builds a solid safety line for green production, injecting strong impetus into the high-quality development of the livestock industry.
The planting of polyploid Phragmites australis in livestock farming practices innovatively connects the upstream and downstream integrated "waste-free" and "zero-carbon" green development goals, comprehensively building a full-chain service system for a circular economy. This has also created an industrial cooperation model for the Tianjin Municipal Environmental Governance Industry Association that combines economic value and ecological benefits. In the future, Redsun will continue to adhere to the original intention of "sincerely and meticulously creating value for our partners" and comprehensively contribute to building a new blueprint for the livestock industry that is ecologically friendly and mutually beneficial.
Recommended News
