This week brought the news that, following testing by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), some 27,402t or US$49.8m of Nestlé's Maggi noodles had to be recalled from the market due to allegedly high levels of lead. But what do you do with 27,402t of noodles deemed unsafe for human consumption?

The solution was incineration. Five cement plants will take 40 days, which started on 9 June 2015, to consume all of the noodles as an alternative fuel. "This was the most environment-friendly solution to destroy the recalled noodles," said Luca Fichera, executive vice president of Nestlé's supply chain in India.

India's fuel supply is notoriously unreliable. Coal is the dominant fuel used for cement and power production in India, however, supplies have been inconstant in terms of both quality and quantity for some time now. To shore up the coal supply, the government cancelled, reallocated and auctioned 214 of the 218 coal blocks in India, starting in September 2014. According to local media, Coal India, which still operates most of the blocks, is now expected to increase its coal production capacity by as much as 60Mt in 2015, following 7% production growth in the 2014 - 2015 financial year. However, there is still a major coal shortage in the country and recent reports by India's coal ministry suggest that the new coal linkages will increase coal costs. The new coal linkage process will see sales go via an auction system instead of a static price. Coal costs for cement producers are expected to rise by as much as 25% as a result.

Given India's long-standing fuel supply problems, its cement producers may wish to learn from the use of Nestlé's Maggi noodles as alternative fuels in cement plants. Instead of viewing the coal shortage as a challenge, it might instead be considered an opportunity to increase alternative fuel use, reducing costs and moving to more environmentally-friendly cement production. In addition to the standard industrial, municipal and household waste, among others, India might look to use some of the large quantities of waste biomass that must surely be produced from its agricultural sector. Like the game, 'Hungry, hungry hippos,' India's cement plants could consume a wide variety of nearby wastes in place of coal.