Waste management in egg production Ruihong Zhang, University of California at Davis, USA; and Hamed. M. El- Mashad, University of California at Davis, USA and

Waste management is an essential component of an egg production system. It affects the environmental impact of production, food safety, worker safety, and animal health and safety. Manure, animal deaths, and egg washing and processing wastewater are the major types of waste generated in an egg production facility. Manure mostly contains nutrients fed to the hens and is an excellent source of energy and nutrients if managed properly. It is also the main source of various environmental pollutants and disease organisms. Common air pollutants are ammonia, greenhouse gases (GHG), volatile organic compounds and particulate matter. Most of the nitrogen in poultry manure is present in urea, uric acid and undigested protein. Uric acid represents 65-75% of nitrogen in manure (Pan et al., 2009; Roberts et al., 2007). Ammonia is generated when these compounds are decomposed via enzymatic and/or microbial reactions during storage and application as a fertilizer. More than 60% of ammonia in manure can be released under farm conditions (Mahimairaja et al., 1994), causing environmental problems and loss of fertilizer value.