According to the European legislation, the disposal of animal by-products is not a realistic option, as it would lead to unsustainable costs and risks for the environment. Conversely, there is a clear interest that, provided the health risks are minimised, a wide range of animal by-products are safely used for various applications in a sustainable manner. Indeed, a number of animal by-products are commonly used in important production sectors, such as the pharmaceutical, feed and cosmetic industries. Exploitation of FBPD is therefore very important for the Blue Economy as a whole, as these can result in products with high added value and at the same time there will be multiple and significant environmental benefits. In accordance with the EU legislation, it is appropriate for the collection and disposal system to take into account the actual quantity of animal by-products collected in the Member State concerned, so VIOAXIOPIO is moving in that direction.
The production of HAVB from FBPD
There are three potential sources of raw material for the production of HAVB from FBPD in Greece:
- Animal by-products (ABP) eventually not sold at the 10 landing sites of OKAA (~ 450 tons).
- Discarded catches (the term refers to the percentage of unwanted catches that after arriving on board are subsequently discarded at sea due to non-market value) (~ 40,000 tons),
- ABP after processing of fish in the commercial and man manufacturing chain (~ 22,000 tons).
These sources will be sorted by geographic area, month, species and size (where possible), drawing on data from the National Fisheries Data Collection Framework Program.
