Andhra Pradesh is one of the top three states in India in egg production. Despite this, it is still clueless about the eco-friendly disposal methods of eggshells. As such, with eggs being used in heavy quantities for human consumption, particularly for value-added products like marinated snacks, sandwiches, pizzas, burgers, and scrambled egg mixtures in bakery products in restaurants, fast food joints, hotels and even the pharmaceutical industry, the eggshells are often being dumped along with the routine domestic and other municipal waste.
The prime offenders are restaurants, fast food joints, hotels and the pharmaceutical industry. According to sources at the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, few industries and food joints bother dump the eggshells in landfills. “These shells are finding their way into municipal dumping sites. However, these are composite materials and should not be disposed of like this. The practice in foreign nations of dumping eggshells in landfills is not being followed here due to the cost factor,” stated an official while speaking to the Deccan Chronicle.
The AP Pollution Control Board is doing little about this issue, despite the operational presence of the ministry of food processing industries. Andhra Pradesh, along with Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, contributes almost 70 per cent of egg production in India. An official explained: “Research on the re-cycling of eggshells for making certain grade of plastics is in the nascent stages abroad, while these can be used in the pharmaceutical industry for extracting proteins etc. However, the disposal of these in municipal dumping sites is not the answer. We shall soon come up with strict guidelines.” The official said eggshells were considered a waste by the food industry.