How to Handle Discarded Mushroom Sticks and Bags, and the Effects of Eating Raw Shiitake Mushrooms

Xinshe in Taichung is the main production area for shiitake mushrooms in Taiwan, China, supplying about 80% of the shiitake mushrooms for the whole of Taiwan, China. With large-scale shiitake cultivation comes the problem of handling a huge number of discarded space bags. Because the price of waste bag disposal has soared, mushroom farmers have no choice but to pile the waste bags in their mushroom sheds, and some farmers even discard them at random, causing environmental pollution. Some mushroom farmers have responded that they hope the relevant authorities can provide subsidies for recycling discarded space bags, so that the useful components inside can be reused while also reducing environmental pollution.

The leader of the 20th Mushroom Production and Marketing Group said that discarded space bags are usually handed over to disposal plants, which separate and recycle the sawdust and plastic materials inside. The sawdust, which contains a large amount of organic matter, is used as fertilizer, while plastic materials such as plastic sealing film are sent to recycling plants for reuse. Due to rising raw material and labor costs, the current disposal price for waste bags is 12,000 yuan per fen of land, double what it was ten years ago. In addition, because plastic prices have fallen sharply in recent years, the plastic tops of space bags, which previously incurred no charge, now also require a waste disposal fee.

In recent years, the cost of recycling and disposing of waste bags has become higher and higher, and the costs borne by mushroom farmers have increased accordingly. Even the wages for hiring people to help turn the space bags so that they can grow shiitake mushrooms again have risen considerably compared with the past. If mushroom farmers do not want the waste disposal cost to become heavier, it cannot be ruled out that some may dump the bags in the mountains or by rivers, causing environmental pollution. If the relevant authorities provided subsidies for disposing of discarded space bags, it could greatly reduce the cost pressure on mushroom farmers.

Raw shiitake mushrooms may cause allergies, so they should be cooked before eating. Xinshe mainly produces dried shiitake mushrooms, whose rich aroma makes them suitable for preparing all kinds of dishes. Because shiitake mushrooms have nutritional qualities such as being low in calories and high in protein and fiber, they are one of the quite popular agricultural products. However, uncooked raw shiitake mushrooms contain lentinan, which may cause full-body allergies, so they must be eaten after being cooked.