Taiwan Seedling Improvement and Propagation Station (TSIPS) is working hand-in-hand with local agriculture to promote sustainable mushroom production and achieve the 2040 net-zero agriculture goal. A key project, 'Diverse Cyclic Utilization of Mushroom Media for Industrial Demonstration,' focuses on recycling used mushroom bags into fuel and fertilizer, and integrating them into the TSIPS’s seed corn production. This forms a sustainable agricultural production system that can be widely adopted.

To accurately assess the environmental benefits of this entire re-cyclic production system, TSIPS is continuously evaluating the emissions reduction potential of each reuse process and product. They also conducted a carbon footprint assessment of oyster mushrooms produced by '天下第一菇農產行' a partner in this project. The assessment followed the Ministry of Environment(MOE)'s guidelines (CFP-PCR) for grains and vegetables (mushrooms are classified as vegetables) and considered the product's entire life cycle, from cradle to grave.

The results showed that a 400-gram bag of oyster mushrooms product had a total carbon footprint of 2.1245 kg CO₂e. The manufacturing stage accounted for the highest emissions (81.13%), followed by raw materials (16.55%), usage (2.32%), and disposal (0.01%). Electricity consumption for equipment and refrigerant leakage during the 20-day, 25°C cultivation process were the primary emission hotspots in the manufacturing stage. The TSIPS will continue to assist the farmer in obtaining product carbon footprint verification and applying for carbon labels from the MOE. Additionally, TSIPS is providing internal training on net-zero emissions issues, including ISO 14067 (product carbon footprint) and ISO 14064-1 (organizational carbon footprint), to lead the agricultural sector towards low-carbon transformation and promote green consumption and lifestyles.

▲Fig. 1、Through interviews conducted by a third-party consulting carbon footprint assessment.		▲Fig. 2、Process flow chart of the oyster mushroom product life cycle
▲Fig. 3、The carbon footprint of a 400-gram package of oyster mushrooms is calculated to be 2.1245 kg CO2e.