Using Black Soldier Fly larvae to process food waste into feed and valuable side-products
The human population is set to grow to 10 billion by 2050. This puts a lot of pressure on food production and land use, while every day significant amounts of food are wasted. Introducing insects into the food chain, (decomposers by nature) that thrive on using nutrients from food production waste, provides a sustainable and circular, alternative and natural protein for poultry, pigs, aquaculture and pets. Locally produced it also increases food security while reducing land use.
National
Estonia
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It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
Yes
EMFF : European Maritime and Fisheries Fund
A scientific project was funded between 2019 - 2021 in Estonian University of Life Sciences where fishing industry waste (innards, skins, etc.) was fed to Black Soldier Fly larvae to evaluate their growth and potential output for protein and lipid production. A side-product (frass - the manure of insects) was used to test the potential for the frass to be used as a fertilizer.
No
As an individual in partnership with other persons
First name: Rihard Last name: Reissaar Gender: Male Age: 27 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Estonia Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Pärna Allee Town: Tartu Postal code: 60532 Country: Estonia Direct Tel:+372 507 0584 E-mail:rihard.reissaar@gmail.com
In the EU, we are wasting an estimated 57 million tonnes of food each year, with 29% being lost in food production and manufacturing. Given the high rates of malnutrition worldwide and the environmental impact of food production and food waste, there is an urgent need for more efficient food waste management. The EU has adopted a revised Waste Framework Directive to reduce food waste in Member States, with an emphasis on re-using surplus food for human and animal consumption.
Our objective is to develop production methods to use food waste from food production, manufacturing and retail sectors to create animal feed using Black Soldier Flies. We will research and test food waste acquisition for producing feed for black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) and develop a scalable modular production system for automatisation of BSFL production. In addition we will develop methods for frass and chitin collection, their valorisation and distribution to the market. This concept allows for the re-use of food waste while also increasing the nutritional value of animal feed. Being generalists who are also capable of saprophagy (feeding on dead or decomposing organic matter) makes BSFL the perfect candidates for processing food waste that has left the human food chain.
Furthermore, using insects as feed for animals is logically a preceding step to bringing insects to the human dinner table. It is part of the EU Green Deal or global green revolution, and aims to reduce land use and energy intensive farming, reduce logistics to make industries more local, and improve the environment for all. Furthermore, insect farming can produce side-products like frass and chitin, where the former can be used as a bio-fertiliser and the latter can be widely used in many industries including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agriculture and so much more.
Circular-economy
Food waste recycling
Eco-friendly fertiliser production
Feed production using insects
Novel-Foods
An estimated 57m tonnes of food is wasted in the EU, out of which 29% is lost in the food production and manufacturing of food products (Eurostat, 2022). Given that an estimated 149 million children worldwide suffer from malnutrition (WHO, 2021), decomposing waste in landfills account for 5% of global GHG emissions and Russo-Ukrainian war severely threatens food security in the world, humanity can’t afford such wasteful food management. The EU has adopted revised Waste Framework Directive aimed to reduce food waste in Member States, with main emphases being on re-use of surplus food to humans and animals.
Our objective is to develop production methods to produce Black Soldier Fly on food waste from food production, manufacturing and retail sectors to give it new value as animal feed. This concept allows the re-use of food waste while increasing the nutritional value of animal feed suitable for precision livestock feeding. Livestock production is based largely on soy accounting for 77% of global soy production (OurWorldinData.org, 2019). Fly larva use for livestock allows for reduction in soy as animal feed and reduces the environmental strain on the Americas one-way nutrient distribution given that 80% of soy is produced there but used as animal feed worldwide.
The logistics in the food chain is well developed but only in the front-end and for waste collection, but not for waste management. Many insect producers who have closed their businesses have stated that the collection logistics has been the main struggle. Our objective is to develop food leftovers collection logistics to make it profitable and motivate businesses to invest in proper food waste management.
Our concept also provides insect frass which is an easily managed and valuable fertiliser for agriculture. Mineral fertiliser production is highly dependent on fossil fuels, contributing to global warming and having lower efficiency than natural fertilisers like animal manure or compost.
Agriculture as an industry is facing employee shortages. Farming is not a job, but a lifestyle that less and less young people are willing to live. Livestock farming, in particular, is a 365/24/7 job that leaves few opportunities for time off and planned holidays. Developing the technology and process for a sustainable, circular and ecologically more sound production of animal feed based on insects provides a local, predictable and stable experience for both employees and the community. It reduces land usage and virgin resource usage while at the same time creating value out of, what today are, waste products, raising the communities awareness of the opportunities offered by green industries and a shift away from resource exploitation towards resource recycling and upcycling.
Climate change is the most pressing issue of our era. Using insects to process food waste into animal feed minimises water usage, land usage and environmental impact in comparison to plant based animal feed, which is predominantly soy and grown in temperate to tropical climates. Furthermore, it is local in any part of the world, being close both to food producers as well as animal farms, thereby reducing logistics and the associated environmental footprint.
For society as a whole, reducing land use and energy intensive farming, reducing logistics to make industries more local, will improve the environment for all. Furthermore, introducing insects as feed for animals is a logical preceding step to bringing insects to the human dinner table. Insects are the most common multi-celled living organism and greatest biomass on earth. They are a common source of nutrition for many people in tropical environments yet are considered yucky in the Western world.
First and foremost, the concept is part of the EU Green Deal or global green revolution: the shift away from resource exploitation towards resource recycling and upcycling. It is one concept among many, that will help shift both public opinion and economic activity towards sustainable industries. As such, a high-profile new agricultural industry that will change attitudes of what farming can be and how to approach complex modern problems (food waste, land and resource exploitation) with clever and technologically advanced production methods. Citizens and society will benefit from better food waste management, reduced environmental impact of feed production as well as increased food security and local employment opportunities due to the modular aspects of the production methods.
One of the key aspects of this concept is that it makes a crucial part of the animal feed industry local. Soy in particular is shipped across the world and is therefore dependent, and at the mercy of, energy costs from production to transport, contributing to the volatility of the price of meat as well as to food insecurity.
Local production of Hermetia illucens, based on food waste that is generated locally as well, the concept improves food security as well as being a much greener alternative to common land intensive agricultural production. Therefore, the stakeholders involved are local government officials, local universities and knowledge centres, local food production and waste management companies.
The concept was designed by a doctoral candidate in applied biology, developed in cooperation with a doctor of animal science, business innovation leader and specialist in entrepreneurship and investment and marketing and service design specialist with a focus on sustainability.
We have already built and have access to an experimental laboratory built specifically for growing Black Soldier Flies. This has provided the initial understanding of the opportunities and challenges related to the concept for the past 3 years, as well as the facility to continue building the concept into an industrial scale production.
The combined skill-set with in-depth knowledge of the field of animal science, the running of a dedicated lab experimenting with the production of Hermetia illucens, business development and marketing of goods and services as well as service design was crucial in creating a complete business concept. The diverse networks of the individuals involved provide a crucial ecosystem of access to information and skills necessary, to develop the concept to a profitable business.
The manifold points-of-view of the individuals helped in providing a broader perspective to the business development process as a whole, while the specialist competences allowed the detailed description and understanding of challenges to be addressed in the development process.
Furthermore, consultation with specialists in animal biology, engineering, automation, food production, production management, sustainability and financial planning helped in designing a holistic business concept and plan. The research done by the involved parties during the course of 2022 both within their own specialities as well as in co-creation, helped in addressing potential challenges and obstacles to the creation of the concept.
Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly) is a fly species originating from Central America. The larvae are a highly nutritious feed for agricultural animals (chickens, fish, pigs, pets and exotic domestic animals). They contain 39-43% protein, 7-39% fat and 9-28% minerals, which makes them potential candidates for the production of concentrates and nutritional supplements (Barragan-Fonseca et. al. 2017, Sprangers et. al. 2017).
Being generalists who are also capable of saprophagy (feeding on dead or decomposing organic matter) makes them perfect candidates for processing food waste that has left the human food chain. Along with being animal feed they generate frass which can be used as an eco-friendly fertiliser.
Minerals like phosphorus are mined in places like USA, Kazakhstan, China, Morocco, and Tunisia after which they are turned into fertilisers, shipped across the globe just to end up in landfills as food waste once again. This process takes a tremendous amount of energy and could be bypassed by using insects to reuse the nutrients in the food chain once again.
Another side product is their exoskeleton that is composed mostly of chitin. Chitin can be processed into chitosan and is used in many different industries like agriculture, pharmaceuticals, food supplements, cosmetics, etc. Chitosan can also be used to theoretically make bioplastics that are naturally degradable.
Our aim is to develop new and effective technologies for BSF larvae growth, life-cycle, manufacturing and usage.
Providing poultry and pig farmers, aquacultures with insect based meal would be both more natural (as an animal protein) as well as considerably more sustainable. Moreover, the input (feed for the insects) from what is outside the human food chain, reduces overall waste and creates a circular business model that in itself creates zero production waste.
The development of technologies provides us with the possibility to scale Black Soldier Fly production everywhere in the world. The idea is to develop fully modular zero energy production facilities in the nordic country of Estonia to overcome the climate requirements for the species and enable the scaling of insect production all over the globe.
There are a variety of challenges with scaling insect production globally for example:
Lack of standardisation: There is currently a lack of standardisation in the insect farming industry, making it difficult to scale up production. Developing a working system locally enables the methods to be adapted anywhere.
Lack of infrastructure: Insect farming requires specialised infrastructure, such as breeding facilities, methods for feed production, storing, the collection of waste material for insect feed etc. which is currently lacking in many areas. These kinds of technologies are available in the food industry, but adopting them to the insect farming industry is a problem that has to be overcome in development.
Regulation: There are currently few regulations in place for insect farming, making it difficult to scale up production to meet food safety and quality standards. There are very few working solutions in the industry and these are heavily guarded business secrets. Showing that insects can be used effectively to produce high quality protein to replace soy and reduce land use might loosen the regulatory pressure in the future.
Harvesting and processing: Harvesting, drying, and processing insects is not yet fully developed and with today's methods in the food industry can be locally improved to adapt elsewhere.
Quality and safety: Ensuring the safety and quality of insect-based feed products is an ongoing challenge for the industry. The methods for storing, preparing and packaging insects for stable storage is not standardised and should be worked out for global production.
With limited land and water resources, it will be difficult to increase food production to meet the needs of a growing population. Insect farming can help with reusing and recycling nutrients that are discarded from industrial food production, potentially household food waste, and put them back into circulation.
Insect farming can also limit soil degradation from overuse, pollution and erosion, which can limit crop yields and make it more difficult to grow food. Raising black soldier flies for animal feed is not land intensive and can be done in vertical farms within built up areas, leaving natural habitats untouched.
Insect farming can also increase food safety and security, particularly in the face of emerging threats such as pandemics and climate-related disruptions. Local, quickly scalable feed production improves food security. Reusing food waste that has left the human food-chain to generate safe feed for agriculturally reared animals is one of the solutions for more sustainable food networks globally.
Furthermore, lack of investment in agricultural research and development is essential for improving crop yields and developing new technologies, but funding is often inadequate. Developing the technology for black soldier fly production, that can be effectively scaled at reasonable cost, enhances food availability locally and globally.
Environmental impact of the food system is responsible for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. Vertical, industrial production of black soldier flies in a zero emission facility, reduces the environmental impact of feed production, decarbonising a significant aspect of food production both locally and globally.
