Zero-waste utilization and conversion of shrimp shell by mechanochemical method

In this study, a moderate method for efficient zero-waste utilization and reforming from shrimp shell waste was developed by means of mechanochemistry. The method enables the conversion of shrimp shell waste into astaxanthin, chitin, small peptides, amino acids, and lipids for zero waste; the method uses green mechano-enzymatic hydrolysis and mechanical solid organic acid treatment of shrimp shell waste to achieve zero consumption of strong acids alkali, and organic solvent. The underlying mechanism was revealed by thermodynamic determination, spectroscopic analysis, and electron microscopy observation of the extraction process. In the research, a green economic reuse approach for crustacean waste is proposed to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3, 6, 12 and 14 with the concept of circular economy(Sutherland et al., 2021), and this study proposes a green economic reuse method of crustacean waste.