New tech makes use of entire fish, eliminates most waste

R&D company SINTEF has worked with Nordic Wildfish to eliminate waste by using everything but fish bones for additional food products.

Nordic Wildfish, one of Norway’s largest fishing companies, already makes use of on-board technologies to freeze catches and provide quality and quantity reports. Until recently, however, more than 92 percent of a whitefish would be discarded in the process of removing fillets. Now, working closely with research and development company SINTEF, the majority of the fish can be used for additional food products. The new process uses everything but the bones to produce proteins, fish oils and amino acids.

Through hydrolysis, what would have been waste is turned into a type of soup to which enzymes can be added and the oils and proteins removed. Scientists believe the products could be used for both human and animal consumption and will greatly increase the sustainability of the industry. The process has been designed to be completed on-board shipping vessels, further reducing the costs involved as no additional transport or lab fees are necessary.

The “no waste products” approach is becoming more common, and necessary, with projects ranging from an edible emergency drone that when dismantled, also provides shelter and fuel; to restaurants finding new ways to put what would traditionally be food waste onto the menu. How else could new materials and approaches be used by a variety of industries to increase their sustainability?