Filed under: Etc.
Scallop shells used as an eco-friendly road de-icer
Winter is coming closer in the Northern Hemisphere, and we all know the side effects of the salt (calcium chloride) used currently to de-ice the roads: it rots vehicles and its chlorine component is not the cleanest product to be dispersed on the environment.
In Japan they have considered that there could be a better solution to de-ice the roads, so in a place where apples and scallops are produced, the Aomori Ecological Recycle Industrial Association in Japan started manufacturing a road de-icing agent that employs large amounts of scallop shells generated as a seafood processing by-product in Aomori Prefecture. The acid part of the component is developed from apple pomace, used to produce acetic acid (the main component of vinegar).
The method fixes two problems at the same time: using waste which would normally be discarded and creating a product that is friendlier to the environment than the current salts. The Association started production in March 2007 and plans to process 6,000 tons of scallop shells annually.
[Source: Japan for Sustainability]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SuperQ 5:21PM (9/12/2007)
Damm. could you be any more dumb? There is NOTHING wrong with chlorine in salts... you know the oceans are full of it, and it's not an environmental problem.
Please go back to high school and take basic chemistry again.
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Alex 9:11AM (9/13/2007)
@SuperQ
Did i miss the sarcasm? I'm pretty sure that my local FRESH waterways do not smile on the chlorine in road salts. And go sprinkle a winter's worth of road salt on your garden, let me know how your crops look.
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