WASTE2TASTE

Description

WASTE2TASTE is a network of 8 European partners including academia, research centers, and SME’s, with proven expertise in higher education and endowed with state-of-the-art scientific and technical expertise aimed at the development of commercially viable products by using postharvest fish losses (PHFL), including unwanted fishery by-catch species (e.g., non-indigenous species (NIS)  and cartilaginous fish with low commercial value) and by-products from fish processing and aquaculture industries. 

The main WASTE2TASTE objective is the valorization of PHFL, showing potential applications in a circular economy and an eco-friendly vision by developing protocols for sustainable exploitation of underused and/or wasted marine resources, to obtain high-value products for food applications. The base of WASTE2TASTE is to utilize PHFL, naturally rich in proteins and bioactive compounds, to develop innovative green and cost-effective bioprocesses for the production of marine ingredients (e.g., collagen, chitin/chitosan, and fish oil), reducing extraction time and use of hazardous solvents/enzymes allowing, at the same time, to minimize pollution into the ecosystem.

Therefore, WASTE2TASTE will (i) contribute to reducing the waste volume through the development of appropriate PHFL management measures, (ii) allow to address the European "ZeroWaste" goal aiming at the 3R principle "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”, (iii) contribute to achieve a resilient and sustainable development for marine/maritime sector and, in an indirect way, (iv) allow to mitigate the NIS, which cause damage to marine ecosystems and humans. The challenge is to gain insights into market opportunities that will be profitable and will satisfy new and different attitudes/demands of consumers. 

Overall, WASTE2TASTE will fully exploit the potential of underutilized marine biological resources, from laboratory to industrial scale production of marine collagen and chitosan-based products, with potential commercial uses that reach Technological Readiness Level 7. WASTE2TASTE will create a nutritional end product targeting different end-users’ health issues (e.g., exercise performance, muscle growth, joint problems, gut health, and obesity).