Cultivated meat could become much cheaper to produce thanks to a new recycling system that uses tiny algae to turn production waste back into nutrients for growing more meat.
Researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) found that microalgae can grow using waste produced during cultivated meat manufacturing.
The algae can then be processed and their nutrients returned to the production system, potentially replacing some of the expensive ingredients currently needed to grow animal cells.
The researchers estimate that the approach could cut the cost of cell growth media by between 60% and 90%.
Their findings were published in the journal Food Research International.
Cultivated meat, sometimes called lab-grown meat, is produced by growing animal cells rather than raising and slaughtering an entire animal.
The technology is being explored as a potentially more sustainable and animal-friendly way to produce familiar foods such as beef, chicken, pork and lamb.
However, producing cultivated meat on a large scale remains expensive. One of the biggest costs is the nutrient-rich liquid known as growth media that keeps animal cells alive and allows them to multiply.
This media contains ingredients such as amino acids and growth factors, which can be costly. Finding cheaper ways to supply these nutrients could therefore play an important role in making cultivated meat affordable enough for supermarkets and restaurants.
The UQ researchers believe microalgae could provide part of the solution.
Their system takes waste left behind during cultivated meat production and uses it to grow microalgae. Instead of allowing those leftover nutrients to go to waste, the algae absorb and reuse them.
The microalgae can also produce oxygen that could support growing meat cells. Once the algae have grown, useful nutrients can be collected from them and fed back into the cultivated meat production process.
This creates what researchers describe as a circular system, where waste from one stage becomes a useful resource for another.
The experiments also produced more microalgae than was required simply to recycle nutrients. That extra algae could potentially be used to make other products, creating additional sources of income for cultivated meat companies.
Reducing production costs is becoming increasingly important as the cultivated meat industry moves closer to commercial-scale manufacturing. Five countries have now approved cultivated meat for sale, with Australia and New Zealand among the latest to allow certain products onto the market.
The UQ researchers are now working with Australian cultivated meat company Magic Valley, which supplied waste material for the study. Supported by an Australian Economic Accelerator grant, the project is investigating how the recycling system could be incorporated into much larger cultivated meat production facilities.
The researchers say lowering the cost of growth media could remove one of the biggest obstacles facing the industry.
If the approach works successfully at commercial scale, tomorrow’s cultivated meat factories could operate very differently from today’s experimental facilities. Instead of continuously buying expensive nutrients and throwing waste away, producers could recycle part of that waste into the ingredients needed for their next batch of meat.
That circular approach could help make cultivated meat both cheaper and more resource-efficient—and potentially bring it closer to becoming an everyday option on supermarket shelves.
