Segregation techniques represent a sustainable alternative to minimize wastes of raw material in processing industries. This study considered the premise; its purpose was to use segregation techniques to determine the theoretical removal rate of solid compounds present in processing effluents, in order to support the sustainable development of the fish industry. The removal rates obtained for different treatments were evaluated for the parameters: total solids, organic matter and oils and greases, and the efficiency of the segregation of the effluent streams in the different stages of fish processing was evaluated through descriptive statistical analysis. The segregation recovered from 31% to 70% of total solids; from 15% to 97.50% of organic matter, and from 10% to 63% of oils and greases. These results indicates that the raw material can be used in new products, leading to reduced final-effluent concentration.

Water management in industry by minimizing water consumption and effluent generation, reusing and/or recycling as a possibility the economy and conservation of water, energy and economic resources. The characterization of the final effluent allows evaluating how much the treatment is adequate to meet the requirements of the regulations of different countries for recycling and/or reuse and evaluated the possibility of reuse, as well as the choice of effluent treatment methods. In this case, technical, environmental and economic criteria, with a view to complying with industrial reuse regulations, should be evaluated, and a multicriteria analysis (MCA) can be adopted to classify the treatment systems applied in different reuse scenarios, made possible by the combination of multiple processes, with the use of tertiary treatment techniques. It should be noted that the potential for recycling and/or reuse of effluents generated in industry increases when effluents are separated into groups (principle of segregation of effluent streams). As a way of promoting a more sustainable model, the use of reuse systems is promising to reduce consumption, as well as reducing operating costs when treating effluents.