SEAWEED2PLANT

SEAWEED2PLANT

Algae production in controlled systems has high costs, restricting their commercialization in value-added markets such as cosmetics, human nutrition or in highly specialized products for the aquaculture sector. The fact that these markets have very well-defined quality specifications and with high requirements, results in the production of significant quantities of non-compliant biomass in the stocks of algae-producing companies. Most often, these biomasses have biochemical properties very similar to high quality products but are rejected because they have, for example, a different colour, unusual smell, high bacteria content, contamination with other algae, among others. The small quantities to which they are produced also imply that they are not economically viable to produce fertilisers for other sector such as agriculture.  

The SEAWEED2PLANT project aims to create a marketing channel to sell a nutrient solution (fertilizer) developed from by-products of the algae industry in Portugal, that can be used in the niche market of indoor plants, a rapidly growing market. This commercialization will contribute positively to the efficiency of resources use, in a circular economy rationale, as well as the goals of reducing inorganic fertilizers.