Sea2Land - Producing advanced bio-based fertilizers from fisheries wastes
The project brings together leading experts in the field of nutrient cycle closure who have extensive experience from numerous previous national and European projects. The project consortium consists of 26 partners from EU countries, including research institutes and universities, agricultural groups, agri-business experts and EU NGOs promoting the circular economy. IPS Consulting is the only project partner from Croatia. The project will be implemented in the period from 01.01.2021. to 01.01.2025.
The world’s population is expected to increase by 2 billion over the next 30 years, from 7.7 billion today to 9.7 in 2050, and by 2100 it could reach about 11 billion (UN, 2019).
The European fishing industry catches more than 6 million tonnes and more than 1.2 million tonnes of aquaculture. The value of the fishing industry reaches 1700 million euros (EU 2018) and is increasing from year to year. It is estimated that more than 50% of fish tissue (including fins, heads, skin and offal) is discarded because it is considered waste. More than 20 million tonnes of fish tissue (by-products) are discarded each year, corresponding to a percentage of 25% of total marine catch. This means that 5.2 million tonnes of fish by-products are discarded in the EU fishing industry, forgetting that their composition can exceed 9% nitrogen (depending on the species), 2% phosphorus and 0.6% potassium. It is estimated that the just mentioned 5.2 million tons of waste could be used in agricultural production, which actually means 0.52 million tons of N. The project will contribute to the improvement and adaptation of nutrient recovery technologies for the production of biologically based fertilizers (BBF) and the production of adapted fertilizers from fishery and aquaculture by-products produced in Europe.
The overall goal of the SEA2LAND project is to provide solutions that will help overcome future challenges related to food production, climate change, but also the recovery or recovery of fish waste.
In the long run, the project will boost the production of fertilizers in large quantities in Europe from by-products based on circular economy models, turning by-products into crop nutrients. The project proposes 9 technologies in 7 cases in 6 areas that represent the main fishery production of the EU. The technologies will be applied to a variety of by-products (typical of each implementation area) and will produce several biologically based fertilizers (BBF). The project aims to provide scalable technologies that can transform by-products into quality biologically based fertilizers. It will contribute to independence and security of nutrient supply, reducing nutrient imbalances in Europe.
The SEA2LAND project is a four-year project that will bring optimized technologies for the recovery of nutrients from fishery and aquaculture by-products to the market. The project proposes the implementation of 9 technologies in 7 cases in 6 areas representative of the fisheries sector (North, Baltic, Atlantic, Cantabric, Mediterranean, Adriatic Sea). The proposed technologies range from well-known processes (bokashi, composting, etc.) that can be a solution in some areas due to its low cost and simplicity to others more sophisticated that go from thermo-mechanical fractionation to enzymatic hydrolysis.
It consists of 9 work packages; 7 technical work packages plus 1 coordination work package and 1 focused on disseminating project results. Work Package 2 will focus on investigating nutrient imbalances in Europe, taking into account fisheries and aquaculture by-products, as well as the current state of the soil. Work packages 2 and 3 will establish and optimize various nutrient recovery technologies. Through work packages 5 and 6, biologically based fertilizers will be characterized and studied in order to determine their safety for the environment, but also their agronomic effect. The above work packages will contribute to Work Package 7, which will assess the viability of newly developed biologically based fertilizers, and will also design and implement a decision support system on the technology and type of fertilizer suitable for a particular area and type of by-product. Work package 8 will focus on developing business models.
