Cashew oil extraction helps solve environmental pollution, create more revenue

Cashew nutshell - a waste that previously had to be burned, causing environmental pollution, is being used by many enterprises in Binh Phuoc Province to extract oil for industrial production and export.
Cashew oil extraction helps solve environmental pollution, create more revenue ảnh 1 A cashew oil production facility in Phuoc Long Town in Binh Phuoc Province. (Photo: SGGP)
Binh Phuoc is the capital of cashew in Vietnam, with more than 134,000 hectares of cashew trees, more than 200 enterprises, and about 1,400 cashew processing facilities. As the cashew nut processing activities develop, the amount of cashew nutshells discharged is also huge. Therefore, the establishment of cashew oil production enterprises helps solve the pollution problem caused by cashew nutshells and increases the value of the local cashew production and processing industry.

Bui Huu Phuoc, Director of Phuoc Thanh Agricultural Products Processing Company Limited in Phuoc Binh Ward, Phuoc Long Town, said that after ten years of doing business in the field of cashew nut processing, he switched to investing in building a factory to extract oil from cashew nutshells in 2011. Currently, with more than 40 cashew oil press machines, his factory consumes nearly 1,500 tons of cashew nutshells daily, producing 230-250 kilograms of cashew oil. With a price of VND10,000 per kg of cashew oil, his business earns billions of Vietnamese dong annually. According to Phuoc, the cashew oil market is extremely large and constantly expanding. Of which, cashew oil exports to countries, such as China, South Korea, Japan, Europe, and the US, account for 80 percent of output.

At present, Binh Phuoc has about 30 cashew oil press factories, mainly in Phuoc Long Town. According to the director of a factory, on average, the investment cost of a cashew oil factory is from VND1.5 billion to VND2 billion. The price of raw materials is low, with abundant supply and wide-opened export markets, so its economic efficiency is significant.

Besides creating jobs for local workers, the biggest benefit of cashew oil production is contributing to environmental protection. Nguyen Tam Hanh, Deputy Director of My Hanh Company in Long Phuoc Ward, Phuoc Long Town, said that her business produces 3 tons of cashew kernels every day, discharging 9-10 tons of cashew nutshells. Previously, cashew nutshells were used as combustible material, which has a great impact on the environment. Meanwhile, if they were discarded as waste, it would cost enterprises more expenses for transportation and gathering places.

“Since the day local businesses promote the export of oil extracted from cashew nutshells, it has created favorable conditions for cashew nut production facilities to have more revenue, neither waste costs for burning nor cause environmental pollution,” said Hanh.

Bui Van Tan, Manager of Hoang Long cashew kernel production facility in Thanh Binh Town, Bu Dop District, also said that his facility processed about 30 tons of raw cashews daily, generating about 20-21 tons of cashew nutshells, causing environmental pollution in the residential area. However, after cashew oil production companies were established, his facility no longer has to worry about the amount of cashew nutshells it discharges but also earns money from selling them.

It is convenient because cashew oil production enterprises collect cashew nutshells every day, so cashew nut processing facilities do not have to find places to dump them, Tan said.

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