Blue is the new green: Valorization of crustacean waste

Annually, large amounts of marine biomass waste are generated around the world. In the case of crustaceans, an opportunity is lost to convert these chemically rich streams into essential and industrially relevant materials as these residues are often landfilled or directly discarded in the environment. Current processes to produce chemicals from marine biomass rely on wasteful, chemically- and energy-intensive methodologies that can harm human health and the environment. In this article, an overview of the current status of marine biomass valorization is presented, as well as a comparison between traditional and more sustainable methods for extracting chemicals from waste crustacean shells. The pathways for the synthesis of nanomaterials from marine biomass are also highlighted, alongside the synergic correlation between a ‘greener’ strategy for the implementation of a marine biorefinery and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.


Juliana L. Vidal, Tony Jin, Edmond Lam, Francesca Kerton, Audrey Moores,
Blue is the new green: Valorization of crustacean waste,
Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 5, 2022
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crgsc.2022.100330.