Krill harvesting and processing group Aker BioMarine, controlled by Norwegian magnate Kjell Inge Rokke, is launching a new company offering products and services to firms who are looking to recycle and re-use waste, and hopes to ultimately take the company public.

The new company, Aion -- from the Greek word meaning "eternity" -- began as the brainchild of an Aker BioMarine employee, and is one of several "circular economy" initiatives at the group designed to reduce the company's plastic waste and production residues.

Through Aion, Aker BioMarine’s plastic and biological waste will be recycled into new products, helping drive it toward a target of becoming a zero-waste company. Aion will also work with companies in Aker BioMarine’s network to reduce their waste.

McDonald’s is already an Aion customer, using serving trays made of recycled plastics from the ocean.

In addition, NorgesGruppen’s MENY has through a pilot project introduced Aion carts of recycled ocean plastics in some of its stores.

Ultimately, the plan is to spin off Aion to shareholders and separately list the company, Aker BioMarine said.

Runa Haug Khoury, formerly director of sustainability and public affairs at Aker BioMarine, has been named Aion's new CEO.

In July, Aker BioMarine began trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange's Merkur Market, a follow up to a NOK 2.15 billion (€196 million/$225 million) share issue aimed at fueling the company's ambitions to grow in both the consumer and animal feed markets.

Rokke's Aker Capital owns just over 77 percent of the group after the listing.

CEO Matts Johansen told IntraFish earlier this year the company's decision to go public is just the latest in a long, careful path to building up the operation.