CATS LIVING BETTER THANKS TO INNOVATIVE NORTH CHINA COUNTY LITTER

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 (Bernama) -- In recent years, raising a cat has become a choice for many people worldwide, and businesses in northern China county have found a niche of cat litter products to accommodate the trend.

In a laboratory, Wang Xiaoli and his colleagues have been developing low-dust mineral and lightweight products, utilising bentonite. In the workshop, a bunch of cat litter, as small as millet, can be produced by inputting the mineral ore into a green production line, and through a series of automatic manufacturing processes.

These scenes offer a glimpse of the research and production of Chifeng Menghong New Materials Co Ltd, a cat litter producer based in Ningcheng County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

"We introduced new technology and functional materials to increase bentonite litter's clumping and odour absorption function so that cats can live healthily in a low-dust environment," said Wang, a technician at the company.

With some 1,100 people engaged in the industry in 2023, the county has an annual cat litter production output of 1.5 million tonnes with an output value of 900 million Chinese yuan (about US$126 million) and a tax revenue of 70 million Chinese yuan, according to local authorities. (US$1=RM4.34)

Over the past two decades, Ningcheng has seen rapid and innovative development in the cat litter industry, according to a statement.

Ningcheng County Chongai Pet Products Co Ltd general manager, Zhang Yongsheng said it used to make chemical fertiliser but changed course in 2002 when a Japanese client reached out to the former plant manager, looking to utilise locally-sourced bentonite for cat litter production.

The experiment proved successful, leading to the establishment of the county's first cat litter production line.

"It is a good business as bentonite here is of high quality. It forms solid clumps and is easy for scooping and cleaning. Since then we have made efforts to research and develop more cat litter products," said Zhang.

Meanwhile, head of Ningcheng County, Zhang Haixuan said: "These companies are able to produce tailor-made cat litter of different varieties and odours. Bentonite products including cat litter manufactured in the county have been exported to 106 countries such as Finland, Russia and Malaysia.”

At present, there are 32 cat litter companies in the county, and these companies are active in research and have enlarged sales channels, improved manufacturing quality, and complied with international standards, among others.

-- BERNAMA