Fishing for value
From discarded shells to sustainable bioplastics, Teagasc projects are driving Ireland’s transition to a zero-waste blue bioeconomy.
Photo credit: SergeyTikhomirov/stockphoto.com/
Our oceans, lakes, and rivers are brimming with potential. Yet every year, millions of tonnes of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants are processed, leaving behind vast amounts of waste. Heads, bones, shells, viscera, and nutrient-rich wastewater are often discarded, while species at lower food chain levels (low-trophic species) such as seaweeds, duckweed, microalgae, and by-catch remain underused. But what if all this could instead become the foundation of a circular, sustainable bioeconomy?
This vision drives the development of zero-waste aquatic biorefineries – integrated systems that transform every part of aquatic biomass into valuable products like food, feed, bioplastics, fertilisers, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics. Leading this transformation are two pioneering initiatives led by Teagasc and partners across Ireland and Europe: the EU Horizon project IMPRESS and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine funded Shared Island project AIMBio. Together, they represent a journey from scientific innovation to real-world demonstration in building a sustainable blue bioeconomy.
Towards zero-waste biorefineries
The IMPRESS project (Innovative Approaches for Marine and Freshwater-Based Ingredients to Develop Sustainable Foods and Value Chains) has laid the foundation for zero-waste aquatic processing. It has developed efficient biorefinery processes that recover high-value compounds from aquatic species and side streams. Using cutting-edge technologies such as hydrodynamic cavitation, power ultrasound, enzymes, and supercritical extraction, IMPRESS has proved that every component of aquatic raw material can be efficiently recovered and reused. Even wastewater has been recycled to create biomass for further valorisation.
IMPRESS advanced biorefinery technologies by developing effluent-based cultivation systems for duckweed and microalgae, and optimising seaweed cultivation through Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA). These approaches enable extraction of bioactives and hydrocolloids alongside the creation of new consumer demand-driven foods.
The project has successfully produced high-value compounds such as chitin, chitosan, protein isolates, hydrolysates, and collagen from seafood side streams and low-trophic species. Using cultivated microalgae, it has developed bioactive extracts with properties that can protect the liver and prevent diabetes and inflammation. The project has also engineered biodegradable packaging, edible coatings, and intelligent packaging sensors, derived from recovered biomaterials.
From knowledge to demonstration
Building on IMPRESS, AIMBio (All-Island Marine Bio-based Refineries for a Circular Blue Bioeconomy) advances these technologies and value chains to higher Technology Readiness Levels (TRL 7–9) across Ireland, bringing them closer to market. Bringing together partners from both the Republic and Northern Ireland, AIMBio demonstrates at large scale that a circular, zero-waste biorefinery is both scientifically achievable and commercially viable.
Across pilot demonstration sites in Ashtown, Bantry, Donegal and Rathlin Island, AIMBio cultivates seaweeds via IMTA, stabilises biomass on-site, and converts it into alginates, proteins, fibres, and bioactives, while upcycling seafood side streams.
The end-stage biorefinery closes the loop by recovering mannitol, a natural sweetener, from residual streams, producing biogas through anaerobic digestion, and generating bioenergy and biostimulants. Life cycle assessment and techno-economic frameworks guide sustainability and industry adoption.
AIMBio also focuses on people and communities, driving market adoption through multi-actor engagement, business model toolkits, and targeted commercialisation. By linking coastal producers, processors, and innovators, it fosters new business opportunities, rural employment, and community resilience.
Together, IMPRESS and AIMBio aim to transform aquatic “waste” into opportunity – one establishing the science, the other proving its commercial reality. Their shared mission moves towards a future where seafood processing plants discard nothing, algae farms produce both food and clean energy, and coastal communities prosper through circular production systems – powering a regenerative bioeconomy that sustains both people and planet.
Funding
The IMPRESS project is funded by the European Union (GA No. 101084437) co-funded by Horizon Europe programme under HORIZON-CL6-2022-FARM2FORK-02-two-stage call; the AIMBio project is funded by Government of Ireland’s Shared Island Fund, and co-funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland.
Contributors
Rahel Suchintita Das, Research Officer, Teagasc Ashtown
Shay Hannon, Manager, National Prepared Consumer Food Centre, Teagasc Ashtown
Brijesh K. Tiwari, Principal Research Officer, Teagasc Ashtown
brijesh.tiwari[at]teagasc.ie