Algal Research 55 (2021) 102265 Available online 18 March 2021 2211-9264/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Capitalizing on harmful algal blooms: From problems to products Alina A. Corcoran a, * , Ryan W. Hunt b a New Mexico Consortium, 4200 W. Jemez Road, Los Alamos, NM, 87544, USA b Algix, 5168 Water Tower Rd, Meridian, MS, 39301, USA A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Algae Bioproduct Bioeconomy Nutrient management HAB control PCM ABSTRACT Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) damage ecosystems and threaten human health worldwide. Despite management efforts, bloom prevention and control remains a challenge not yet matched by resources or regulatory actions. Simultaneously, as a society, we increasingly demand sustainable bioproducts. The insertion of HAB biomass, biomass generated from HAB control efforts, into a bio-foundry business model presents a unique opportunity to pair HAB prevention, control, and mitigation (PCM) strategies with sustainable manufacturing. For successful coupling of HAB mitigation with bioproduct development, environmental managers and manufacturers must partner to overcome technical and logistical challenges, reach common goals, and facilitate safe downstream product lines. The success of such a partnership will require capital investment, changes in regulatory frame- works, and cultural shifts that allow for the exploration of creative solutions, materials, and products. 1. Unrelated challenges 1.1. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are worsening through time as humans continue to manipulate land, water, and climate systems [2,3]. Blooms damage environmental and human health; result in losses to commercial fsheries, tourism, and recreation; incur costs associated with monitoring, management, and cleanup; and can generate more insidious sociocultural effects such as loss of cultural identity [4–6]. Although economic impact assessments are incomplete, existing esti- mates underline the severity of the HAB problem – conservative annual costs of HABs range from $95M to >$1B in marine systems and from $150 million to $6.5B in freshwater systems [7]. The negative impacts of blooms have sparked management actions of varying degrees and levels of effectiveness. HAB management can be divided into three categories: prevention, control, and mitigation (PCM) [8]. PCM actions align with the timeline of a bloom cycle, from devel- opment to crash (Fig. 1). Prevention refers to measures that reduce the incidence and/or severity of blooms, such as limiting nutrient loading; control refers to measures that aim to suppress blooms, such as me- chanical harvest or bio/chemical treatment; and mitigation refers to efforts that reduce negative effects, such as water treatment. Failures to prevent or control HABs translate into a strong demand for mitigation. For example, more than 50 countries globally implement monitoring programs that test shellfsh for biotoxins [9]. With exceptions in China and Korea [10,11], there has been little implementation of HAB control measures. 1.2. Sustainable manufacturing Sustainable manufacturing is the creation of products through economically-sound processes that minimize environmental impacts. In the last decade, consumer demand has shifted towards bioproducts [12] and corporations have garnered attention for their sustainability ini- tiatives. For example, Adidas’ corporate goals focus on reductions in water and energy use, innovations in material science, and improve- ments in employee wellness; within these goals are material targets including the use of 100% recycled polyester by 2024 [13]. Another example is a partnership between the footwear company Timberland and tire manufacturer Omni, which generated to a tire line designed to be upcycled into footwear after ~80,000 after miles on the road [14]. Although sustainability initiatives can be tractable for some companies, barriers ranging from material supply and performance to attitudes to- wards sustainability concepts prevent many brands from implementing sustainable practices [15]. For sustainable manufacturing to be realized, economies must shift towards circular processes that value waste and emissions as inputs. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: acorcoran@newmexicoconsortium.org (A.A. Corcoran). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Algal Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/algal https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2021.102265 Received 22 December 2020; Accepted 1 March 2021