Odours Prevention and Control in the Shell Waste Valorisation

Marine aquaculture and seafood processing industries in the northwestern coast of Spain gen- erate significant amounts of shell waste that could be recovered in an environmental sound manner. Re- cent regulations and strategies on waste open up new opportunities to sustainable development through the management and the treatment of aquaculture materials, previously considered as waste. They en- courage not only the application of environmental technologies, but also the recovery of waste and their use as raw materials in such a way that the consumption of resources is reduced and the sources of pollu- tion can be minimized. This paper presents a plant dealing with mussel shell waste as input in its valorisa- tion process, which is considered an eco-friendly solution to the problem of disposal of these products. In fact, it is a clear procedure to turn waste into a high value-added product like lime, a secondary but sus- tainable raw material with a market potential to be used in different applications. However, as a result of the thermal treatment of the shell waste, odour emissions to the atmosphere become a serious problem. The pollution caused by these odours is creating an environmental and social conflict between the indus- try and the population of the surrounding area. Accordingly, our work was aimed at identifying the sources of pollution to seek solutions and options for the abatement of odorous emissions from the instal- lation.