Job Creation and Market Expansion

Markets for fish by-product and fish waste are increasingly becoming larger as the desire for these products grows, and as new technology emerges to better utilize fish waste and by-products. This demand not only helps to reduce the waste, but creates jobs as the markets expand.

Fish by-product and fish waste uses include:

• Compost and Fertilizer (innards, frames, and trimmings transformed into plant feed)
• Animal food (divert waste meat and oils to pet food)
• Supplements (Omega-3, omega-6, marine collagen)
• Beauty (fish scales for lipstick and gloss)
• Leather (tan fish skins to use for shoes, wallets, etc)
• Gelatin (used in pharmaceuticals or candies)
• Ink (sepia dye from cuttlefish, squid ink for food)

Returning Nutrients to the Environment

Composting is a biological process during which naturally occurring microorganisms (such as bacteria and fungi), insects, snails, and earthworms break down organic materials into a soil-like material. As a form of recycling, this is a natural way to return nutrients to the environment.

Anaerobic digestion is the process of breaking down organic material in the absence of oxygen, which produces biogas and solid residual. Biogas, which consists of methane and carbon dioxide, can be used as a source of energy (similar to natural gas). The solid residual can be applied on the land or composted and used as a soil amendment.

Waste to Energy

Energy recovery is the conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into useable heat, electricity, or fuel through waste-to-energy processes such as combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas recovery. In a non-circular system, waste is often disposed of in the landfill, therefore losing all residual energy. Waste-to-energy processes helps to recoup some of this energy, however reusing materials and avoiding landfill is known to save significantly more energy.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction

Food loss and waste are a major contributor to climate change, accounting for 8  percent of global greenhouse gas emissions annually. In fisheries and aquaculture, it is estimated that 35 percent of the global harvest is either lost or wasted every year. A circular system would seek to keep food and fish waste out of landfills, therefore reducing greenhouse gas emissions both from disposal and from activities needed to produce more food. For example, if the United Kingdom kept organic food out of landfills, it would not only save USB 1.1 billion a year on landfill cost, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7.4 million tonnes.

Within the Iceland Ocean Cluster, waste from traditional cod fisheries and cod processing is used for biomass feedstock. The feedstock is food waste from wild caught cod, which is sustainably caught throughout the year. These well-established fisheries and cod processing industries produce a constant stream of waste that has to be managed. Industries with innovative technologies, such as Codland, can transform this waste into high-value compounds. To gain access to a secure a constant supply of the waste generated by cod processing industries, Codland is situated close to them in the port. Using biomass residues and waste, including food loss and waste (FLW), when it is both economically and environmentally feasible and viable, can allow producers to diversify their incomes without changing their production. For example, some of the products obtained from the waste from cod manufacturing industries are beneficial for human health (e.g. nutraceuticals, such as collagen peptides) and can improve the soil microbiome. To produce these nutraceuticals, the process uses enzymes instead of chemicals. Fish oil with omega-3 fatty acids and mineral supplements (mainly calcium) are also produced.