From waste to value - sustainable water purification through sequential biomass and aquaculture production (SWAP)

Research Project, 2025 – 2027

This project transforms many years of research on biomass separation and low-trophic aquaculture into a sequential circular solution for treating nutrient-rich wastewater streams from the seafood industry. By integrating sustainable food-grade separation methods with the cultivation of bivalves and seaweeds, the project aims to turn current water treatment costs into revenue while generating valuable biomass. Today, the seafood industry loses significant amounts of protein, omega-3, and dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus through its wastewater. The project addresses this challenge by converting existing scientific knowledge into an applicable treatment model, developed in collaboration with industry partners. The solution promotes resource efficiency and sustainable, diversified seafood production in line with the National Food Strategy 2.0 and Sweden´s environmental and marine policy goals. The initiative responds to clear needs within the seafood industry for scalable and cost-effective treatment methods while also meeting society’s demand for a circular bioeconomy. The project delivers both technical implementation and communication strategies to enable dissemination beyond the case study and concrete impact on sustainability in the food sector and aquatic environments. By uniting science, industry, and policy, the project exemplifies action-oriented research with the potential to create long-term environmental and economic benefits.