ONE EARTH envisions an “earth-to-marine-to-earth virtuous cycle,” where terrestrial and marine biomass value chains are fully interconnected. In this model, outputs from land-based activities feed into marine and aquaculture processes, while outputs from the sea return to support land-based industries, forming a continuous, mutually beneficial loop.
For example, residual cheese whey from dairy production (land) can be used to cultivate bacteria/yeasts and algae that generate omega-3 for aquaculture feed (sea). In turn, fish processing waste such as bones and scales (sea) can be transformed into fertilizers and other products for agricultural use (land).
This creates a sustainable, “self-reinforcing” carbon cycle in which carbon and nutrients remain in productive use rather than being lost as pollution. It is a tangible demonstration of:
- Systems Innovation – tackling environmental challenges by linking sectors such as dairy, aquaculture, and agriculture in new, synergistic ways.
- Circular Economy in Action – showing how one industry’s waste becomes another’s resource, directly reflecting the EU circular economy principle across land and sea domains.
- Climate and Sustainability Synergies – cycling CO₂ and nutrients between ecosystems reduces the need for virgin resource extraction, helps mitigate climate change through carbon capture and reuse, and eases pressure on natural stocks like wild fish or mined phosphates.
This holistic, cross-sectoral approach aligns with the EU Green Deal and the updated Bioeconomy Strategy, which call for breaking down silos to achieve large-scale sustainability.
By highlighting this integrated circular value chain, ONE EARTH offers a vision of the future bioeconomy: innovative, waste-free, and collaboratively connecting industries to form a true closed-loop system. An “infinite loop” diagram of land-ocean exchange could help audiences visualize how this sustainable cycle works in practice.