The City of Sydney has teamed up with circular economy solutions company Goterra to trial a new sustainable food waste collection program, which will turn up to 600 tonnes of food waste into protein-rich animal feed and fertiliser over a 12-month trial.
The program uses Black Soldier fly larvae, which are not vectors for disease, to convert the waste – food scraps take up about a third of general waste in bins, and emit methane as they rot in landfills, one of the worst greenhouse gases.
Waging war on waste
“This is the next step in our war against waste. Using maggots is an innovative and sustainable solution for this growing problem,” Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore AO said.
“This service will be set up at a facility in Alexandria, meaning our fuel costs and emissions will greatly reduce because we are transporting this food waste shorter distances.
“This is a brilliant circular economy result as we regenerate what was once considered waste into sustainable commodities: insect protein for animal feed and a natural low-impact fertiliser, both essential for food production.”
The Black Soldier Fly maggots will be housed inside shipping container-sized units – they are capable of eating twice their own body weight in food each day.
Their manure will be processed into fertiliser, while the maggots themselves will be transformed into nutrient-rich protein for fish, poultry or pet food.
Importantly, the Black Soldier Fly larvae break down bacteria present in their food, removing a potential disease vector in the process.
Creating a clean, circular economy
“We're really excited about this project – it has the power to revolutionise food waste management for residential food waste and logistics in Australia’s largest city,” Goterra CEO Olympia Yarger said.
“We know food waste represents 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. If it were a country, its emissions would be the third largest in the world.
“Our Modular Infrastructure for Biological Services are working hard every day to reduce this and turn food waste into a regenerative resource, creating insect protein and fertiliser to help plug the food production shortfall predicted to be 20% by 2050.”
The trial will begin late this year and run for 12 months, with an option to expand the service should it be successful.