Introduction

CuanTec Limited is a Scottish company who have developed a novel biological method of extracting chitin from shellfish waste to produce the World's first clear home compostable chitosan films to replace single-use plastics..

Challenge

CuanTec carefully designed their proprietary methods to result in a zero-waste, circular process. As the company moves forward with commercialising their business, and to scale it further in the coming years, they are looking carefully at their process side streams to ensure maximum value is extracted from crustacea shells. One is mineral rich and the other is high in protein but the full characteristics of each required further assessment.  

Solution

Cuantec provided samples of each side stream to Gordon McDougall of the James Hutton Institute (JHI), who supplied the specialised equipment required for this analysis, and helped in the analysis of the data generated. Mineral and heavy metal content was measured with Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) spectroscopy. The team also analysed the amino acid content of each sample, and evaluated lipids and fatty acids using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS).

The composition of minerals, lipids, heavy metals and amino acids was determined which will ultimately help the company move towards complete circularity of their process.

Outcome

This project will aid the company’s plans to reach a zero waste outcome and potentially generate extra revenue streams. The  data provided from this project will also assist in regulatory compliance requirements which will apply to its first commercial scale extraction facility.