NZ King Salmon opens New Zealand’s first aquatic ensilage plant to convert fish waste into energy.
New Zealand King Salmon (NZKS) has opened the country’s first in-house aquatic ensilage plant in Picton, aiming to convert organic fish waste into biofuel, electricity, fertiliser, and nutrient-rich feedstocks, while significantly reducing waste sent to landfill, The Press reported.
The plant processes remaining raw materials (RRMs) from salmon farming operations, including heads, frames, skins, trimmings, guts, gills, and bloodwater. Using a controlled ensilage process, these by-products are stabilised through pH adjustment, preventing bacterial growth and producing a liquid known as fish silage.
Julien Stevens, NZKS’s research and development manager, described the facility as a “step change” for the company, supporting its goal of sending no seafood to waste. “The benefits are significant, including capturing the nutrient potential of our organic by-products and nearly eliminating our footprint to landfill,” he said.
The Picton facility will also process mortalities from NZKS’s Marlborough Sounds farms, following previous incidents where large volumes of dead salmon were sent to landfill.
In a related initiative, NZKS has developed a process to extract protein from salmon kidneys for use in nutrient-rich fish meal for non-salmon applications, further contributing to the company’s full fish utilisation strategy.
“We believe industries need to find ways to efficiently transform waste into valuable resources, and we hope this plant will be an inspiration for other industries to follow,” Stevens added.
NZ King Salmon is New Zealand’s largest producer of farmed salmon, with operations in Marlborough and processing facilities in Nelson and Picton.