THE amount of fish and its associated packaging ending up as waste in the UK retail supply chain is to be identified for the first time.

The research will also identify how to realise cost savings and environmental benefits for participating businesses.

C-Tech Innovation, the Chester based innovation management and technology development company, is undertaking the research on fish waste in partnership with Seafish and Harris Interactive.

The new research, led by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) and Envirowise, will develop detailed ‘resource maps’ to identify the amount of food and packaging waste that is generated by the seafood industry and where it occurs.

The project will also detail the amount of water consumed and disposed of during processing. The carbon impact of waste – and its economic value – will be identified too.

"This project represents a very positive step forward for the seafood industry building on waste management work already undertaken by Seafish,” said Michaela Archer, Project Manager at Seafish. “We are encouraging companies to take part in the research to provide accurate and up-to-date information about waste produced across all parts of the supply chain.

“This is a big issue for the seafood industry so benchmarking the amount of waste product generated is crucial if we are to provide a basis for managing waste better in the future. We will be contacting companies throughout the whole seafood supply chain, covering all major fish and shellfish species of significance to the UK market, to discuss the type and quantity of waste produced and how it is disposed of.

“With escalating disposal costs and more stringent legislation on disposal methods it is increasingly important that the seafood industry is in a position to minimise the amount of waste produced and look ahead to identify alternative waste treatments and promote good practice."

This was endorsed by Charlotte Henderson, Retail Supply Chain Programme Manager at WRAP: “The problem of fish waste, alongside water use, is complex, requiring a multi-disciplinary approach.

“Identifying where and when the waste is generated – and the reasons why – will help us develop solutions to use resources more efficiently. The outputs will benefit participating businesses and the wider industry by identifying key areas where resources can be used more efficiently and waste can be prevented.

“This will include making recommendations to tackle the ‘hot spots’ and the development of good practice case studies. These solutions will be shared and be good news for companies within the supply chains because the benefits identified will be commercial as well as environmental.”

The project team will be contacting companies across the supply chain, representing over 80% of the fish species consumed in the UK, to participate in the project and provide data. Aggregated results of the survey will be shared with the industry and benchmarking reports will be developed.