In India, more than 27 000 t of instant noodles will be burned in cement kilns after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India banned Nestle India’s Maggi noodles. The stock is estimated to have a value of Rs.320 crore and was banned after it was found to contain quantities of lead and MSG beyond permissible limits.
Luca Fichera, executive vice president of Nestle India’s supply chain in India, said that turning the noodles into fuel was the ‘most environmentally friendly solution’. Incineration has already begun, with the current burning capacity put at 700 t of noodles across five facilities. It will take more than a month to burn all the stock.
The instant noodles are crushed and fed to the kiln still in their packets. One of the cement plants taking the stock is Wadi Cement in Karnataka.
Cement kilns have often been used as a means of disposal for unwanted or problematic stock, such as pharmaceutical waste in Lebanon.
Edited from various sources by Katherine Guenioui
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