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]
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