Chalk Made from Eggshells Marketed

The Q.P.Corporation (Kewpie), the largest producer of mayonnaise and salad dressings in Japan, recycles 100 percent of the eggshells left over from eggs used in the processes of manufacturing mayonnaise and other products. The company has expanded eggshell use to school supplies, supplying them as a raw material for blackboard chalk. The eggshells are washed, sterilized, crushed, and then mixed with a natural paste to make chalk. Theirs was the first attempt to produce chalk using completely natural ingredients.

Green Techno 21 Inc., an eggshell recycling and reuse company located in Saga City, Saga Prefecture, manufactures and distributes this chalk, called "Cock-a-chalk." Compared to the powder particle size of conventional chalk of only a few microns, the new chalk's particle is as large as 20 microns, which can prevent powder from scattering when the blackboard is erased.

While chalk is usually made from calcium sulfate or mined calcium carbonate, the newly developed chalk is made from eggshells, composed naturally of calcium carbonate. This makes the product harmless to the human body, and its powder can be used directly as a soil conditioner for school vegetable and flower gardens.

The Kewpie Group uses the largest amount of chicken eggs of any company in Japan, producing 23,000 tons of eggshells annually. The Group aims to promote environmental protection activities, including efficient use of eggshells; all eight of its domestic plants achieved zero emissions in October 2003.



Posted: 2004/04/30 12:00:43 PM
Japanese version