A Nottingham scientist-turned-entrepreneur has developed a ground-breaking, environmentally friendly process that takes industrial food waste destined for landfill and converts it into pure, safe and sustainable calcium carbonate.
Andrew Stacey, CEO of AVGO BIOTECH, has pioneered the revolutionary ‘Rec-egg’ technique to upcycle waste eggshells and produce a high value calcium carbonate product – AVGO CalciuMate.
He has launched a public crowdfunding initiative to raise funding to take the unique Rec-egg process out of the lab and into the real world where it can make a genuine environmental impact.
The company is hoping to raise £25,000 crowdfunding to enable it to secure a process patent and set up a prototype upcycling factory in the East Midlands to take its novel process to market.
“Calcium carbonate is used across the food and pharmaceutical industries globally, and mining out of the ground is producing thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming,” Andrew explains. “Even after it has been purified, this calcium carbonate retains traces of toxic heavy metals that can be harmful if consumed regularly.
“Eggshells are made up of more than 95 percent calcium carbonate, yet in the UK alone, 15,000 tonnes of eggshells from the food processing industry are discarded every year, leading to the generation of more than 63,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases.
“By exploring how we could solve these interdependent environmental issues, we created and developed a unique process that converts eggshells into food and pharma safe pure calcium carbonate. The concept ensures that our product is not only at par with the industry standard calcium carbonate but is also free of heavy metals.”
Each tonne of eggshells upcycled to produce AVGO CalciuMate prevents more than 4.5 tonnes of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere. By commercially producing AVGO CalciuMate, AVGO BIOTECH could prevent the release of 70,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases every year.
AVGO CalciuMate fulfils the E170 and BP/USP specifications for calcium carbonate, as well as the ICH Q3D specifications on heavy metals.
“As well as preventing ecological degradation caused by landfill and mining, we minimise the waste from our own process,” Andrew says. “Almost all the reagents of the Rec-egg process are regenerated and reused in subsequent batches so that nothing is wasted or discarded. There are costs benefits for businesses across these industries too – egg processing companies spend thousands on transporting and disposing waste eggshells in landfill, and food and pharmaceutical companies face the challenge of importing calcium carbonate from overseas.
“We understand that this year has been tough on everyone, especially for people trying to succeed at something new, and that it may not be possible for everyone to donate. For those that understand and support our vision but are currently unable to donate can help us by sharing our campaign on social media – we appreciate every contribution – small or large – to helping us make the idea a reality.”
To find out more and to support the AVGO CalciuMate project, please visit its Indiegogo page: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/avgo-calciumate-caco3-minus-the-carbon-footprint#/
This article was written by Medilink Midlands Member, AVGO BioTech.
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