Treatment and agricultural valorization of eggshell

Abstract

This study aims to assess the possibility of using eggshell as a corrective alkalizing, through trials in pots, as well as studying the effect of adding significant amounts of eggshell (20 to 33% m m^-1) in the development the composting process, and in the quality of the final composts obtained.

The results suggest that the use of eggshell with a particle size below 2 mm in soil has an effect similar to the application of lime, only the cost associated with its thermal treatment prevents its use for this purpose.

In studies of composting, the eggshell (inorganic material) was combined with other materials with high percentage of organic matter (grass clippings, horse manure and chicken manure). Process performance was not significantly affected by the egg shell, even when it constituted about 30% of the pile volume and thermophilic stage was always achieved. The final composts obtained were suitable to be applied in soil.