The processing of eggs for use in the manufacture of liquid and powdered egg products is an established industry worldwide.
Every day, hundreds of factories process millions of eggs, leaving behind huge numbers of eggshells and egg trays - a significant waste- handling challenge.
Now Danish engineering company Sanovo Environmental Solutions has developed a way of handling this waste.
In its process, the trays are used as fuel to burn the eggshells leaving behind a saleable residue - burnt limestone or quicklime, a commodity widely used in the building industry.
The energy generated in the process can also be used to produce steam.
The eggshells and egg trays are incinerated together under controlled conditions in a boiler system.
When burnt, the purity of the starting material - the eggshells - and the composition of the egg trays results in a residual quicklime that is comparable to commercial quicklime.
Sanovo claims many advantages for its process. No fossil fuels are burnt in the process, which is carbon dioxide neutral.
The transport and disposal costs of eggshells and egg trays are eliminated and the risk of disease spreading from eggshells and egg trays is removed, since none of these materials leaves the production facility.
Finally, burnt limestone has a significant market value and is used by many industries.
The first incineration plant of this kind has been built at the site of Sanovo Foods in Odense in Denmark.
Contact: Sanovo Tel: 00 45 7022 7745