A partnership between Nutreco’s Skretting business and Aker BioMarine spin-off AION to tackle pallet waste in the seafood industry was highlighted in a recent article by Intrafish. Through this pilot, Skretting’s fishfeed big bags are being recycled into plastic pallets, saving plastic waste, reducing carbon emissions and cutting costs for the biotech innovator and Antarctic krill-harvesting company.
“For many industries, including the seafood industry, collaboration between parties is vital to drive sustainable change. This is a first step in the right direction.”
There is significant scale potential for this project – with benefits that are good for the planet and good for business. Intrafish states that about 7.6 billion single-use wooden pallets are produced each year, using around 30,000 tons of wood. Four million of these pallets are used in the Norwegian salmon industry. The recycled plastic pallets could last up to 10 years, are more hygienic and weigh about seven kilos less.
According to the article, the success of the pilot has both partners looking to the future. Nutreco is considering adopting the new pallets across the group. AION is also looking to replicate the pilot for Aker BioMarine's Houston – Montevideo route, a move expected to reduce carbon emissions by 84% and costs by 50% over the pallets’ 10-year lifespan.
