Calcium carbonate is a non-toxic raw material used in the paper industry, but also as a food additive and within cosmetics and medicine.
Presently calcium carbonate is obtained from mined limestone. However many waste streams contain calcium carbonate, for instance paper slurry from recycling plants and eggshells from the food industry. Up to now, the separation of the membranes from the shell has been too difficult to make profitable use of this raw material.
Brendon Risby, working with his father, has discovered that the vortex technology (see also Case 1) can serve as a method to obtain calcium carbonate. The swirling movement separates the waste streams and the single components can be reused as a raw material. In this manner, paper slurry, which is a traditional cost factor within the recycling industry because it had to be landfilled, can be processed to separate calcium carbonate which is resold. This system also works with eggshells from the food industry. The calcium carbonate obtained has a high grade of purity so that it can be reused in food and medicine - and even in your personal care product.
