Article about separating egg shells from egg membrane.
January 10, 1999
Experiment Turns Egg Shells to Cash
Filed at 12:01 p.m. EST
By The Associated Press
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Joe MacNeil tried just about everything: He
pounded them, he ground them, he tried acid, bases and sandpaper. Still, the
Penn State researcher could not solve the conundrum facing America's egg
processors: How do you get that thin membrane off broken egg shells?
Sound like one of higher education's meaningless hypotheticals? Think again.
MacNeil finally has separated the shell from the membrane -- and, in the
process, he has created two very lucrative products. His solution could be
worth ... who knows? A whole lot of money.
''When you find a solution for this kind of problem and then find out these
things are worth money,'' MacNeil said recently, grinning from ear to ear.
''That's the American way!''
The problem is simple. Four of 10 eggs produced in this country are cracked
open by commercial producers. The whites and yolks are sold by the gallon to
bakeries, hotels, fast food outfits and companies selling everything from cake
mixes to mayonnaise to shampoo.
Every year, processors break 50 million cases of eggs -- that's 18 billion eggs
-- and get rid of 120,000 tons of shells.
With the membrane attached, the shells are worth $20 a ton for chicken feed
or maybe fertilizer. Most of the shells just end up taking space in landfills.
Hauling it away costs money, about $100,000 annually.
Scraping the membrane off the shell changes everything.
Egg shells are almost entirely calcium carbonate, which can be used in vitamin
supplements, in toothpaste, in chemicals and as a pulp substitute by the paper
industry.
More valuable is the membrane, which includes collagen, a protein used in a
wide variety of medical products.
Egg processing companies would not just save money. They'd make more of
it.
The egg shells might be worth $200 a ton. Pure collagen, used by researchers
in the process of growing cells, can go for $1,000 per gram, though the
chicken variety would be worth much less.
Cutler Egg Products Inc. in Philadelphia has licensed MacNeil's research from
Penn State. The family-owned company is studying how to process and
market the shells and membranes.
''It's a big undertaking and no one's ever done it before,'' said Joel Cutler,
chief executive officer. ''It's got huge potential.''
Collagenesis Inc. in Beverly, Mass., is one interested party. The fast-growing
biochemical firm is researching ways the chicken collagen can be used in
health care.
The membranes include the unusual Type 10 collagen, which prevents
calcification. It could be used to make transplanted heart valves last longer
and to treat osteoporosis. Egg membranes also contain the common Type 1
collagen, which could be used in cosmetics, plastic surgery and in sponges or
powders as hemostats -- used in hospitals to stop bleeding.
''We're trying to decide what we can do with it,'' said Dale DeVore, chief
scientific officer for Collagenesis.
MacNeil and Penn State await approval of a patent on the deceivingly simple
process to efficiently pull off the stubborn membranes.
''When I say they're stuck together, I mean they're stuck together,'' said
MacNeil, 67, a professor emeritus of food science. ''I did every conceivable
thing you could do and I couldn't unstick that thing.''
MacNeil spent years looking at every attempt under a microscope in
frustration -- wishing he could just use a knife. Then he thought, why not use
thousands of knives?
Meat processors use a device called a comitrol, a cylinder that looks a little
like an oil filter. On the inside are razor-sharp blades. MacNeil's procedure
involves shooting the egg shells through the comitrol, producing a fluffy
substance. When that's dumped in water, the shells fall to the bottom and the
membrane float to the top.
''You're solving an environmental problems as well as getting a profit,'' said
Bernard Wentworth, a professor of poultry science at the University of
Wisconsin at Madison, who was not involved in the research. ''It makes
sense.''
Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company |
