JAKARTA – Millions of eggs are consumed daily across Indonesia, providing essential nutrition while generating a largely overlooked environmental challenge: eggshell waste.

Eggshell waste is produced in enormous quantities by households, food industries, and culinary businesses, yet most ends up in landfills without meaningful utilization.

Breakthrough in Waste Valorization

Research on eggshell waste utilization continues showing significant progress. A team from Ciputra University Surabaya has discovered the potential for extracting halal collagen from eggshell membrane (ESM), which demonstrates strong market opportunities in cosmetics, healthcare, and pharmaceutical sectors.

Lead researcher Joko Sulistyo explained that Indonesia’s massive egg consumption—spanning households, food industries, and culinary enterprises—leaves behind large volumes of shell waste daily. However, most of this waste concludes without utilization, creating environmental problems.

“Inside eggshells there is a membrane rich in collagen and other bioactive compounds. Until now, the economic value of these components has not been extensively explored,” Joko stated in Surabaya this week.

Academic-Industry Collaboration

The Ciputra University research team consists of Joko Sulistyo, Mitha Ayu Pratama Handojo, and Agoes Tinus Lis Indrianto. They are collaborating with researchers from PT Andara Cantik Indonesia led by Fanny Lia Sutanto.

According to Joko, ESM collagen offers several advantages compared to conventional sources such as cattle, fish, or pork. Beyond ensuring halal compliance, using waste as raw material is considered more environmentally friendly, cost-efficient, and supportive of circular economy principles.

Strong Market Potential

“The downstream potential is very strong because trends in skincare, health supplements, and pharmaceutical active ingredients for collagen continue increasing. Industries need halal, affordable, and sustainable collagen sources,” he explained.

Collaboration with industry also serves as key to commercialization acceleration. This research secured funding through the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology’s Priority Research Commercialization Program under the Synergy Research scheme, which requires academic-industry partnerships to ensure innovations don’t stop at scientific publications.

Industrial Partnership and Production Scale

Under this framework, PT Andara Cantik Indonesia serves as the commercialization partner with business foundations in skincare and serum sectors. The company is prepared as the location for collagen extraction processes and product validation for market needs.

The research’s success earned recognition through the 2025 Suroboyo Innovation Award in the Agribusiness and New and Renewable Energy category. This award confirms that waste-based and sustainability innovations deliver both economic and ecological impacts.

Expanding Supply Chain Integration

Cooperation is also developing with upstream sectors. In the second development year (2026), the project plans to partner with PT Farming Jaya Bandung as a raw material supplier with capacity of 3,500 eggshells per day. This supply will ensure production chain sustainability from farms to PT Andara Cantik Indonesia’s facility in Sidoarjo.

Building Domestic Competitiveness

These efforts are projected to build a waste-based halal collagen value chain while enhancing domestic product competitiveness in cosmetics and healthcare markets.

“If this chain forms completely, Indonesia will not only be able to reduce waste but also extract added value that was previously lost,” Joko concluded.

The initiative demonstrates how innovative research can transform overlooked waste streams into valuable products while addressing environmental concerns and meeting growing market demand for halal-certified materials.

Original Article:

Times Indonesia. (2026, January 13). Peneliti Universitas Ciputra Ubah Limbah Cangkang Menjadi Emas Putih Kolagen Halal.  Retrieved from https://timesindonesia.co.id/tekno/572719/peneliti-universitas-ciputra-ubah-limbah-cangkang-menjadi-emas-putih-kolagen-halal