Egg Shell Waste - Investigating the Chemistry of the isolation Processes of High Value Materials

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Egg shell waste amounts to 15,000 tonnes per annum in the UK, it is predominantly sent to land fill. This is both bad for the environment and also costs the egg processors hard earned cash. This material, comprising a mineral calcium carbonate and a biological component, proteins and bioactive molecules, has a value. The mineral, at commodity prices, could be worth over £1m a year, the raw protein material over £40m. These will give the business early revenues, while we develop the processes to extract even higher value materials. This project will build on a previous TSB funded project and will characterise all the chemical components of the dual isolation process that we are developing. This will enable us to identify the best process from volume, ease and cost angles. The output will give us the foundation to move ahead on a programme of optimising the process prior to scale up in a pilot plant. Pressure from the Supermarkets, imposing Corporate Social Governance policies on suppliers and the potential implementation of more stringent EU law on food waste disposal, make this a timely project for the egg processing industry.