The Six Circular Value Chains
EcoeFISHent targets grouping and harmonization among fishing and fish industries (capture, farming, handling, processing, conserving, storage, transport, marketing of fish or fish products), bio-mass processing technology providers (pre-processors, extractors-purificators, bio-converters), side-streams logistic and transport infrastructures, IT and communication services, utilities and infrastructure, recycling facilities, nutraceutical, food, cosmetic, food packaging, bio-plastics industry, automotive industries, in a synergic effort towards integration for turning costs and environmental burdens into economic value.
Focus on the EcoeFISHent Circular Value Chains
Current major economic and industrial approaches are still linear and closed, focusing mainly on the enterprises core business. As consequence, huge chunks of every business are mostly unrelated from each other. For that reason, EcoeFISHent aims to raise awareness on the circular economy potential, proposing a territorial social economic cluster and a demonstrable and replicable multilevel circular approach, which will create new circular, innovative, profitable, climate neutral value chains connecting blue and green economy.
In order to make possible coexistence between human industrial and economic activities with marine ecosystems and marine protected areas, CVCs are based on a circular economy model, crossing blue economy, industrial manufacturing and agriculture by interconnecting SMEs, administrations, scientific and innovator communities, financial intermediaries, civil society, including citizens and non-governmental organizations in a sustainable and circular way. EcoeFISHent will generate 6 interconnected Circular Value Chains:
The 6 Circular Value Chains
The EcoeFISHent project is a research and development initiative that focuses on the eco-efficient valorization of side streams generated by the fishing and fish industries.
The valorization of side streams can take various forms, depending on the specific materials and resources involved, giving rise to diverse lines of action that interconnect blue- and green-economies. Here’s an overview of the different approaches and the corresponding 6 Circular Value Chains (CVCs):
Overall, the EcoeFISHent project encompasses a range of approaches to valorize side streams from the fishing and fish industries, aiming to maximize their value, minimize waste, and promote sustainable practices across different sectors.
The main EcoeFISHent innovation lies in two essential elements:
- the elimination of initial processing of the fish waste, meaning there’s no need to separate the fish into parts, using the waste as a whole: skin, bones, head, and viscera.
- the initial extrusion production process, which processes the waste at low temperatures, producing a semi-finished product with a semi-solid consistency that retains important biochemical characteristics and, above all, is easy to store and handle.
EcoeFISHent pre-processing Pilot Unit
Fish Processing Side-streams can be targeted within different domains and applications with high added value (cosmetic, pharma, nutraceutical, biotech, biopolymers, etc).
At the core of the EcoeFISHent project there is a systemic solution, related to FPS, based on implementation of the unique EcoeFISHent pre-processing Pilot Unit (EPPU) for unsorted residues processing. EPPU aims to obtain the so-called Eco-FISH-powder (EFP), a dry concentrated bioactive powder to be further purified and employed in different products integrations.
EPPU enables transforming Processing Side-stream (FPS) into Fish Co-products (FCP), which are allowed to be further transformed into ingredients and component for human use. All the FPS that will not be processed by the EPPU as well as the residuals from bioactive extraction processes, will be redirected to CVC4 (fish to soil) to produce fertilizer for agricultural use, oil for biodiesel applications and chitin.
