Elephant Grass Feed Pellet Production Line In Hong Kong

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overview

This is an elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong project.

In Hong Kong, an international city with scarce land resources but extremely high environmental protection requirements, an innovative company focusing on sustainable agriculture made a breakthrough decision in 2022 – investing US$152,070 to build ‘s first elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong.

The birth of this grass-based animal feed pellet plant project stems from Hong Kong’s unique urban agricultural ecology: on the one hand, local animal husbandry has long relied on imported feed, and the cost remains high; on the other hand, Hong Kong produces more than 3,000 tons of garden waste every day, of which elephant grass, as a fast-growing plant, is often treated as garbage.

The customer keenly discovered that if these “green wastes” can be converted into high-value feed, it can not only reduce breeding costs, but also contribute to urban environmental protection.

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Project Background

The client is a local agricultural technology company with social enterprise characteristics in Hong Kong, mainly engaged in urban agriculture and circular economy projects. The main considerations for launching this elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong project are as follows:

• Cost pressure: The price of imported forage grass in Hong Kong is as high as HK$800-1,000 per ton, while local elephant grass can be obtained at almost zero cost
• Policy support: The “Waste Resource Recycling Program” of the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department provides a 30% equipment subsidy
• Market demand: Hong Kong live cattle farms require about 8,000 tons of feed each year, all of which rely on imports
• Environmental appeal: If elephant grass is not properly handled, it will produce a large amount of methane when it decomposes in the landfill

After 18 months of feasibility study, the client officially signed a contract to introduce this CZLH420 grass feed pellet production line in November 2022, marking the birth of Hong Kong’s first “urban agricultural waste-feed” closed-loop system.

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Core raw material composition

Main raw material:

locally harvested elephant grass (accounting for 60-70%), which can be obtained stably from country parks and green belts every day

Energy supplement:

expired rice (recycled from supermarkets, accounting for 15-20%)

Protein enhancement:

imported soybean meal (10%) + brewer’s grains (by-product of Hong Kong breweries, 5%)

Functional addition:

seaweed powder (purchased from local seaweed farms)

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Four major innovations in the formula

• Using elephant grass that grows rapidly in Hong Kong’s humid climate, its crude protein content reaches 8-10%, which is increased to 12% after fermentation
• Innovative use of supermarket rice that is about to expire not only solves the problem of food waste, but also provides a high-quality carbohydrate source
• Add 2% tea dregs powder (from Hong Kong tea restaurants), the tea polyphenols in which have natural antioxidant effects
• Using low-temperature fermentation technology (45℃ 48 hours), retaining more than 90% of the vitamins in the raw materials

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process design of Elephant Grass Feed Pellet Production Line In Hong Kong

This elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong adopts the innovative process of “pretreatment-fermentation-granulation”, which is specially designed for the characteristics of Hong Kong’s high humidity environment where raw materials are difficult to process:

1. Raw material pretreatment stage: The elephant grass raw material needs to undergo a special processing process:
2. Cutting and crushing: Use a heavy-duty double-shaft crusher to cut the long-fiber elephant grass to 3-5cm
3. Dehydration: Use a screw press to reduce the moisture content from 75% to 50%
4. Mixing ingredients: The automatic weighing system ensures the precise proportion of each component (error ≤ 0.5%)
5. Core fermentation process: The specially designed solid-state fermentation system includes:
   • Temperature-controlled fermentation chamber (maintained at 45±2℃)
   • Automatic compost turning machine (turning every 8 hours)
   • Probiotic spraying device (Bacillus subtilis + yeast composite strain)
   • After 48 hours of fermentation, the crude fiber content of the raw material is reduced by 35%, and the palatability is significantly improved
6. Granulation and post-processing: The key process parameters of the CZLH420 grass pellet machine:
   • Ring die specification: Φ6 mm (compression ratio 1:7)
   • Conditioning temperature: 65-70℃ (retaining the activity of fermented probiotics)
   • Production capacity adjustment: 3-4T/H stepless speed control
7. The post-processing system is specially optimized for the high humidity environment in Hong Kong:
   • Dehumidification cooler: control the moisture content of the particles at 10.5-11.5%
   • Vacuum packaging machine: with moisture-proof aluminum foil bags, the shelf life is up to 12 months

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Core equipment for elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong

This elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong worth $152,070 mainly includes:

• CZLH420 grass pellet machine: main motor power 132kW, suitable for high-fiber raw materials
• WSSF-50 solid-state fermentation system: capacity 5m³, fully automatic temperature and humidity control
• SJHS-2 double-screw mixer: batch processing capacity 2 tons, mixing uniformity CV≤4%
• Intelligent control system: real-time monitoring of fermentation parameters, data storage for 3 years
• Customized packaging line: adapted to the small factory space in Hong Kong, covering only 15m²
• Improved design for Hong Kong’s special environment:
• The equipment is highly integrated and can be installed on the floors of standard industrial buildings
• Noise is controlled below 65 decibels, meeting the environmental protection requirements of residential areas
• Equipped with a backup power system to cope with typhoon weather Power outage

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Diversified applications of the Elephant Grass Feed Pellet Production Line In Hong Kong

In addition to standard elephant grass feed pellets, the elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong can also produce:

• Ornamental animal feed: special grass pellets for ocean parks and pet shops
• Organic fertilizer pellets: slow-release fertilizer after adding kitchen waste compost
• Environmentally friendly fuel pellets: pure elephant grass is molded under high pressure for use in small boilers
• Educational supplies: dyed to make school natural science teaching aids

The most innovative application of the customer is the development of the “community co-production” model – inviting citizens to participate in collecting elephant grass and exchanging feed products, which not only solves the problem of raw material collection, but also improves the community’s environmental awareness.

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market prospects for building Elephant Grass Feed Pellet Production Line In Hong Kong

The successful implementation of this elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong project reveals three major opportunities for Hong Kong agriculture:

• Continued policy dividends: The Environmental Protection Agency plans to increase the resource utilization rate of garden waste from the current 15% to 50% in 2025
• Local food movement: More and more consumers are willing to pay a 30% premium to buy locally produced food
• Growing education demand: Primary and secondary schools have included circular economy in compulsory courses, and there is a strong demand for related teaching aids

Economic benefit forecast:

• Production cost per ton: about HK$1,200 (imported feed is about HK$3,000)
• Investment payback period: 3.5 years (after considering subsidies)
• Potential derivative income: environmental education cooperation, carbon trading, etc.

The customer has signed a long-term supply agreement with the two largest organic farms in Hong Kong and plans to expand to the Macau market. What is more noteworthy is that the miniaturized version of this system (1T/H) is being promoted in many community farms in Hong Kong and is expected to become the standard configuration of urban agriculture.

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Highlights of localized innovation

During the implementation of the elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong project, a number of distinctive innovations were generated:

• Development of a “vertical collection system”: using the rooftops of high-rise buildings in Hong Kong to plant elephant grass
• Creation of a “feed library”: citizens can exchange food waste for feed quotas
• Design of a “typhoon mode”: automatic switching to low-power operation in strong winds

These innovations make the project not only commercially valuable, but also a model case for sustainable urban development in Hong Kong. Compared with directly imported equipment, the value of this grass-based animal feed production line customized for Hong Kong’s special needs is not only reflected in economic benefits, but also creates unique social and environmental benefits.

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Key time nodes of the project

• Early 2021: Concept proposed
• June 2022: Completion of environmental impact assessment
• November 4, 2022: Formal signing
• Second quarter of 2023: Production and operation
• Equipment price: US$152,070 (including installation and commissioning)

This elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong case vividly demonstrates how to transform environmental challenges into business opportunities through innovative thinking in a high-density international city. As Hong Kong promotes the “carbon neutrality” strategy, this type of production system that integrates the concept of circular economy will surely become the mainstream development direction of urban agriculture in the future.

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Operational data highlights

• Average daily processing of 8-10 tons of green waste such as elephant grass
• The produced feed pellets have been certified by the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department
• Compared with imported feed, the carbon footprint is reduced by 75%
• Created 12 local jobs

The most worth learning from this elephant grass feed pellet production line in Hong Kong project is its “community embedded” business model – the grass-based feed mill factory is built directly in the industrial building, and the raw material collection, production and processing and product sales are all completed in the same community, which greatly reduces logistics costs and environmental impact.

This model is being studied and learned by Asian metropolises such as Singapore and Tokyo, and is expected to become a new paradigm for urban agriculture in the future.