Innovative circular economy approaches to produce products of value from marine waste

Marine based industries can produce a wide range of waste in the form of biological growth.

For example, marine infrastructure is covered in considerable volumes of marine growth, including seaweed, shellfish and coral.

When structures are brought ashore for decommissioning this biological material must be disposed of, most commonly to landfill, at significant cost to the decommissioning yard. Other sectors such as aquaculture can produce waste including shell material. This PhD represents an exciting opportunity to convert this waste biological material into products of value.

During the PhD you will explore whether the marine growth can be biorefined into higher value end products, which could range from, for example, enhanced construction materials to specialist fertilizers.

The tremendous diversity in chemical composition and material properties of marine growth means there could be a wide range of potential end products.