Eggshells become fertiliser in project that reduces Geenfood’s food waste

16,000 boiled and peeled eggs per hour generate an enormous amount of eggshells. In the work of preventing food waste, Sweden’s largest egg cooker, Mixum, has found a solution. To create a sustainable circular flow and utilisation of food waste, the eggshells are sent to local farms, where they add nutrients and are used as soil improvers.

It is not sustainable to produce food only to have it be thrown away. In Sweden alone, approximately one million tonnes of food are thrown away each year. To reduce food waste, the Greenfood Group is investing in technological innovation and smart product development that use every part of the raw material. It is also engaged in collaborations with other actors. Such a collaboration is currently taking place between Greenfood-owned Mixum in Motala and local farmers.

Mixum is currently Scandinavia’s largest egg cooker; they boil and peel more than 16,000 eggs per hour. In the process, large amounts of eggshells are generated; an egg is about 13 per cent shell. In a project that aims to maximise the use of food waste, the eggshells are collected and sent to local farmers. The eggshells are an excellent soil improver; they break down quickly and add many nutrients to the soil, including valuable calcium and other minerals.

In addition to the shells, there is also waste in the form of broken or deformed eggs. Mixum also takes advantage of these by using them as an ingredient in its spreads and sandwich tortes. These are part of Mixum’s range of fresh ready-made foods that includes pasta salads, groats, and various kinds of sauces and pickles.