По мере роста глобальной потребности в устойчивых решениях по утилизации отходов технология Black Soldier Fly (BSF) становится мощным инструментом для преобразования органических отходов в ценные ресурсы. Представленный на Конференции по климату и чистому воздуху 2025 года, новый отчет Transforming Organic Waste with Black Soldier Flies представляет собой практическое руководство для лиц, принимающих решения, предпринимателей и реализаторов, изучающих системы BSF.
Системы BSF предлагают высокоэффективную альтернативу традиционному компостированию, быстро преобразуя органические отходы в несколько высокоценных продуктов, включая белок насекомых, масло для корма животных и удобрения из экскрементов. Этот процесс не только сокращает объемы органических отходов, но и поддерживает устойчивость продовольственной системы и восстановление ресурсов, тесно соответствуя глобальным целям устойчивости и климата. Таким образом, технология BSF привлекает все большее внимание политиков, инвесторов, предпринимателей и практиков развития, ищущих масштабируемые решения на основе природы.
The webinar delved into the potential of BSF technology across a range of settings—from large-scale industrial operations to decentralized systems suitable for rural towns or smallholder communities. Attendees gained insights into the report’s system templates, technology components, and practical guidance for assessing the feasibility and implementation of BSF systems in their own contexts.
This session was designed for a broad audience, including decision-makers, entrepreneurs, NGOs, BSF operators, and anyone interested in innovative waste-to-value approaches. By highlighting both the opportunities and challenges of BSF adoption, the webinar will support informed decision-making and help stakeholders unlock the full potential of organic waste transformation.
Динамик
Stefan Diener holds an MSc in biology from ETH Zurich, specializing in ecology and entomology. His PhD at ETH Zurich focused on upcycling organic waste using Black Soldier Fly (BSF), demonstrating his commitment to practical environmental solutions. With his extensive experience in R&D projects in low- and middle-income countries, Stefan is now founder and co-managing Director of Eclose, a spin-off from Eawag. Eclose provides global consulting, feasibility studies, and project supervision for BSF projects.
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Вопросы и ответы
Вопрос | Ответ |
| How effective, if at all, are BSFs towards landscaping waste? (grass trimmings, foliage...etc.) | Landscaping waste is mostly comprised of materials which are fibrous, woody or high in cellulose. These are normally less nutritious for the larvae. The larvae are unable to digest woody materials because they cannot reduce their particle size. The larvae can feed on fibrous and cellulose-rich materials, but growth will be slow. One can mix such substrates with other, more nutritious waste types. The fibrous structure might create a great feeding matrix for the larvae which can help to aerate the substrate and thus improves the bioconversion. |
| How are the carbon credits calculated for a BSF project? | Apart of the regular components which a company includes when calculating its carbon emissions, a BSF facility also has emissions from all the processes where the BSF is alive. This ranges from respiratory emissions in the reproduction cycle to metabolic gases and microbial processes during the conversion process.
Verra has been evaluating methodologies from some companies over the past couple of years in terms of methodology and compliance with carbon credits. |
| How to scale up community-led BSF facilities such from small-scale and decentralized BSF operation? Do you have experience or takeaways for scaling up small-scale and decentralized BSF operation? | Case in Bandung, Indonesia: There are a lot of BSF farmers that operate in relatively small-scale and decentralized manner, operating facilities with capacity ranging from 300 kg to 1 ton per day. However, they are having hard time "scaling up", especially those who don't have capital cost to improve their infrastructures and secure steady and clean feedstock.
We recommend having a well-managed facility with a capacity of 500kg to one ton of waste per day to start with. It gives you and your team the possibility to go through all the necessary operational steps and optimize them for your particular environment. This step is quite often a bit underestimated. People are happy when the operation runs but they forget to optimize it in regard to efficiency (workers/ton, larvae/ton). Additionally, in such a facility you produce enough to try out different products and test them with customers. The pilot facility also can be used as a demonstration facility to engage the community, municipality but also investors. |
| What is the typical size of a BSF plant? Or the most common? | One can operate a BSF facility from a few kg of waste per day up 700 tons per day. We see that a capacity of a few tons per day, operated in the tropics, has a good potential to be financially feasible. It is related to the climate, the salary costs but also logistics. |
| The comparison of the GHG emissions between composting, landfill and BSF was per ton of organic generated? | It was per ton of organic waste handled. |
| Can BSF reduce organic waste quantity in a waste dumpsite? If yes, could you please briefly explain procedure in the field? | Yes, this is possible but not necessarily recommendable. First of all, it is important to notice that the larvae have a maximum feeding depth of around 7-10cm, depending on the density of the waste and the water content. Secondly, if the waste is mixed (organic and inorganic), it might be more difficult for the larvae to access the organic material. It would also be difficult to harvest the larvae after the process. |
| What can be done to enhance the market for insect protein? | One of the challenges of insect protein is the scale of production which is required to gain access to the larger animal feed producers which currently use, among others, fish meal. I have a nice example from Chile where the government has made it mandatory for fish feed producers to start substituting a small percentage of their protein sources from the unsustainable fishmeal to sustainable animal protein sources. This has given the opportunity for BSF farmers to sell their insect protein at a good price in a reasonable quantity. |
| Are the BSF containers always enclosed? Or can they be utilized in open areas such as dumping sites? Are BSF a potential invasive species? | I would not recommend using the larvae on open sites as you cannot harvest them afterwards and they will develop into flies if not harvested. But in any case, flies are not vector of diseases. |
| How long does it typically take for black soldier fly larvae to degrade various types of organic waste, and how does this timeline align with the duration of the larval stage itself? | We usually put the larvae on the waste when they are about 5 days old. There, they feed and grow for 10 to 14 days before they are harvested. With substrates that are less suitable (e.g. cow or chicken manure) it might take a few days longer. |
| How do BSF-based systems compare to traditional composting in terms of speed, nutrient recovery, and greenhouse gas emissions? | As you might have seen in an earlier slide, there are two main product groups created in this process: BSF larvae and frass. The frass can be further processed into a soil amendment.
The larvae are able to remove the easy to convert nutrients, like protein, starch, sugars, etc. relatively fast. The remaining, less nutritious, parts can be found partly in the frass.
Because the initial phase of nutrient conversion happens efficiently and fast, the speed of the process is greater, and overall greenhouse gas emissions are lower. Nutrients will accumulate into larval biomass and therefore the BSF system creates an additional product compared to compost; the protein rich BSF larvae. |
