In California, the Almond Board of California is looking for new applications for the 4.3 billion pounds of almond waste hulls grown annually in the state.
Dr. Karen Lapsley, Chief Scientific Officer at the ABC, tells FoodIngredientsFirst determining high-value uses for the waste is an “industry responsibility and one we want consumers to feel confident we are taking seriously.”
Currently, almond shells are used in livestock bedding and hulls are included in dairy feed. However, the ABC is looking into using the waste as insect feed, plastics, and coloring for the tire industry.
“With recent shifts in the market for traditional uses such as livestock bedding and dairy feed, and increasing almond acreage, the almond community is doubly focused on finding even better—and hopefully value-added—uses for hulls, shells and trees,” Lapsley says. “Over the last year alone, the California almond industry has invested over US$500,000 in co-products research through the Almond Board of California to help propel it further.”