Seafood by-products from canning industry: A review on the environmental assessment of valorisation pathways and future trends

Cheila Almeida; Maria Sapatinha; Carla Pires; Maria Leonor Nunes; António Marques

doi:10.1016/j.clwas.2025.100371

Seafood by-products from canning industry: A review on the environmental assessment of valorisation pathways and future trends

Cheila Almeida, Maria Sapatinha, Carla Pires, Maria Leonor Nunes, António Marques

DQ - Departamento de Química

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

39 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Seafood canning industries generate large amounts of by-products, including effluents, with high organic and salt contents. Valorisation treatments can transform by-products into valuable products applying a circular approach, however they also entail environmental impacts. This review analysis articles published between 2013 and 2023 on valorisation treatments for the production of value-added products from seafood canning industry by-products. It also verified to which extent the environmental performance of those treatments was considered by gathering information on the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology that assess impacts comprehensively. A second goal was to investigate the European Union (EU) seafood canning industry to provide data on potential by-products and amounts generated. A total of 18 valorisation treatments and 12 different products were found. Bioactive products represented 61 % of the products and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and fish protein hydrolysates (FPHs) were the most frequently products obtained. FPHs are, proteins that are broken down into smaller peptides used to improve the functional and nutritional properties of food. PHAs serve as raw materials to replace petroleum-based plastics. A total of eight articles assessed environmental impacts of valorization options, but only six used LCA related with fishmeal production together with uses of by-products as fish oil, fish pâté, energy recovery, lipid extraction and PHAs production. Based on the EU annual production of canned seafood products, it was estimated that 511 k tonnes of by-products could be available. The valorisation of such by-products face challenges as their variability and degradation and, although it is a low-cost raw material, logistics are required to collect them. The environmental impacts, currently assessed of valorisation treatments are not representative of the most promising technologies and therefore it is still difficult to take evidenced-based decisions on the fate of the fish by-products coming from canning industries.

Original language	English
Article number	100371
Pages (from-to)	11
Number of pages	1
Journal	Cleaner Waste Systems
Volume	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clwas.2025.100371
Publication status	Published - Dec 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Keywords

Bioactive products extraction
Cannery
Circular economy
Co-products
Fish
LCA
Waste

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10.1016/j.clwas.2025.100371Licence: CC BY-NC

Almeida, C. et al. (2025).Final published version, 2.53 MBLicence: CC BY-NC

http://hdl.handle.net/10362/187348Licence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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title = "Seafood by-products from canning industry: A review on the environmental assessment of valorisation pathways and future trends",

abstract = "Seafood canning industries generate large amounts of by-products, including effluents, with high organic and salt contents. Valorisation treatments can transform by-products into valuable products applying a circular approach, however they also entail environmental impacts. This review analysis articles published between 2013 and 2023 on valorisation treatments for the production of value-added products from seafood canning industry by-products. It also verified to which extent the environmental performance of those treatments was considered by gathering information on the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology that assess impacts comprehensively. A second goal was to investigate the European Union (EU) seafood canning industry to provide data on potential by-products and amounts generated. A total of 18 valorisation treatments and 12 different products were found. Bioactive products represented 61 \% of the products and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and fish protein hydrolysates (FPHs) were the most frequently products obtained. FPHs are, proteins that are broken down into smaller peptides used to improve the functional and nutritional properties of food. PHAs serve as raw materials to replace petroleum-based plastics. A total of eight articles assessed environmental impacts of valorization options, but only six used LCA related with fishmeal production together with uses of by-products as fish oil, fish p{\^a}t{\'e}, energy recovery, lipid extraction and PHAs production. Based on the EU annual production of canned seafood products, it was estimated that 511 k tonnes of by-products could be available. The valorisation of such by-products face challenges as their variability and degradation and, although it is a low-cost raw material, logistics are required to collect them. The environmental impacts, currently assessed of valorisation treatments are not representative of the most promising technologies and therefore it is still difficult to take evidenced-based decisions on the fate of the fish by-products coming from canning industries.",

keywords = "Bioactive products extraction, Cannery, Circular economy, Co-products, Fish, LCA, Waste",

author = "Cheila Almeida and Maria Sapatinha and Carla Pires and Nunes, \{Maria Leonor\} and Ant{\'o}nio Marques",

note = "info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/Concurso de avalia{\c c}{\~a}o no {\^a}mbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I\&D (2017\%2F2018) - Financiamento Base/UIDB\%2F04077\%2F2020/PT\# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/Concurso de avalia{\c c}{\~a}o no {\^a}mbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I\&D (2017\%2F2018) - Financiamento Base/UIDB\%2F04423\%2F2020/PT\# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDP\%2F04423\%2F2020/PT\# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT//2023.02017.BDANA/PT\# Funding Information: This work was developed within the scope of the “BLUE BIOECONOMY INNOVATION PACT” (Project No. C644915664-00000026) funded by NextGenerationEU, under the incentive of “Agenda for Business Innovation” of the recovery and resilience plan (RRP). This work was also financially supported by the Funda{\c c}{\~a}o para a Ci{\^e}ncia e Tecnologia (FCT) through the strategic projects UIDB/04077/2020, UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020. Maria Sapatinha is thankful for the doctoral scholarship (2023.02017.BDANA) provided by the Funda{\c c}{\~a}o para a Ci{\^e}ncia e Tecnologia (FCT). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Authors",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.clwas.2025.100371",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

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T1 - Seafood by-products from canning industry

T2 - A review on the environmental assessment of valorisation pathways and future trends

AU - Almeida, Cheila

AU - Sapatinha, Maria

AU - Pires, Carla

AU - Nunes, Maria Leonor

AU - Marques, António

N1 - info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/Concurso de avaliação no âmbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I&D (2017%2F2018) - Financiamento Base/UIDB%2F04077%2F2020/PT# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/Concurso de avaliação no âmbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I&D (2017%2F2018) - Financiamento Base/UIDB%2F04423%2F2020/PT# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDP%2F04423%2F2020/PT# info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT//2023.02017.BDANA/PT# Funding Information: This work was developed within the scope of the “BLUE BIOECONOMY INNOVATION PACT” (Project No. C644915664-00000026) funded by NextGenerationEU, under the incentive of “Agenda for Business Innovation” of the recovery and resilience plan (RRP). This work was also financially supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through the strategic projects UIDB/04077/2020, UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020. Maria Sapatinha is thankful for the doctoral scholarship (2023.02017.BDANA) provided by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT). Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors

PY - 2025/12

Y1 - 2025/12

N2 - Seafood canning industries generate large amounts of by-products, including effluents, with high organic and salt contents. Valorisation treatments can transform by-products into valuable products applying a circular approach, however they also entail environmental impacts. This review analysis articles published between 2013 and 2023 on valorisation treatments for the production of value-added products from seafood canning industry by-products. It also verified to which extent the environmental performance of those treatments was considered by gathering information on the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology that assess impacts comprehensively. A second goal was to investigate the European Union (EU) seafood canning industry to provide data on potential by-products and amounts generated. A total of 18 valorisation treatments and 12 different products were found. Bioactive products represented 61 % of the products and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and fish protein hydrolysates (FPHs) were the most frequently products obtained. FPHs are, proteins that are broken down into smaller peptides used to improve the functional and nutritional properties of food. PHAs serve as raw materials to replace petroleum-based plastics. A total of eight articles assessed environmental impacts of valorization options, but only six used LCA related with fishmeal production together with uses of by-products as fish oil, fish pâté, energy recovery, lipid extraction and PHAs production. Based on the EU annual production of canned seafood products, it was estimated that 511 k tonnes of by-products could be available. The valorisation of such by-products face challenges as their variability and degradation and, although it is a low-cost raw material, logistics are required to collect them. The environmental impacts, currently assessed of valorisation treatments are not representative of the most promising technologies and therefore it is still difficult to take evidenced-based decisions on the fate of the fish by-products coming from canning industries.

AB - Seafood canning industries generate large amounts of by-products, including effluents, with high organic and salt contents. Valorisation treatments can transform by-products into valuable products applying a circular approach, however they also entail environmental impacts. This review analysis articles published between 2013 and 2023 on valorisation treatments for the production of value-added products from seafood canning industry by-products. It also verified to which extent the environmental performance of those treatments was considered by gathering information on the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology that assess impacts comprehensively. A second goal was to investigate the European Union (EU) seafood canning industry to provide data on potential by-products and amounts generated. A total of 18 valorisation treatments and 12 different products were found. Bioactive products represented 61 % of the products and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and fish protein hydrolysates (FPHs) were the most frequently products obtained. FPHs are, proteins that are broken down into smaller peptides used to improve the functional and nutritional properties of food. PHAs serve as raw materials to replace petroleum-based plastics. A total of eight articles assessed environmental impacts of valorization options, but only six used LCA related with fishmeal production together with uses of by-products as fish oil, fish pâté, energy recovery, lipid extraction and PHAs production. Based on the EU annual production of canned seafood products, it was estimated that 511 k tonnes of by-products could be available. The valorisation of such by-products face challenges as their variability and degradation and, although it is a low-cost raw material, logistics are required to collect them. The environmental impacts, currently assessed of valorisation treatments are not representative of the most promising technologies and therefore it is still difficult to take evidenced-based decisions on the fate of the fish by-products coming from canning industries.

KW - Bioactive products extraction

KW - Cannery

KW - Circular economy

KW - Co-products

KW - Fish

KW - LCA

KW - Waste

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U2 - 10.1016/j.clwas.2025.100371

DO - 10.1016/j.clwas.2025.100371

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:105011837690

SN - 2772-9125

VL - 12

SP - 11

JO - Cleaner Waste Systems

JF - Cleaner Waste Systems

M1 - 100371

ER -

Seafood by-products from canning industry: A review on the environmental assessment of valorisation pathways and future trends

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

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