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What happens to materials left over from sugar processing?
Many of the materials left over from the production of sugar, both from sugar cane and sugar beet, are recycled and used. The main by-products from sugar cane are bagasse and molasses and from sugar beet are fibre and molasses.
Sugar cane is a giant grass. When it is crushed in the mill, it produces the cane juice and bagasse, the woody part. When most of the sugar is removed from the juice (either after milling or refining) the resulting dark, thick liquid is called molasses. Approximately 60% of the solids content is composed of sucrose, glucose and fructose. Molasses is used in the manufacture of animal feed, alcohol, beverages, bakery products, and pharmaceuticals. The bagasse is a valuable source of energy and is burnt to run the mill.
Sugar beet residue, or pulp, is used to produce a nutritious animal feed or further processed for use as fibre or other products. Sugar beet molasses finds applications in areas similar to that of sugar cane molasses.
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