(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The larvae of the black soldier fly are capable of digesting huge amounts of organic waste, while making it possible to produce animal feed, biofuels and fertilisers without consuming raw materials.
This content was published on January 16, 2021 - 10:30 January 16, 2021 - 10:30 Armando Mombelli
A journalist originally from Ticino and the Grisons, I am mainly concerned with federal politics, business, energy, and innovation.
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The start-up TicInsect, based in southern Swiss Ticino canton, is planning to set up the first bio-waste treatment plant in Switzerland, in which a few hundred million of these voracious insects will be at work.
Most of us have probably wondered what flies are for, especially when they buzz persistently in front of our noses and will not stop pestering us. Believe it or not these insects can carry out extremely useful tasks for us such as making a significant contribution to reducing resource wastage, deforestation and climate change. They can become a valuable ally in creating a circular and sustainable economy.
Accelerated bio-conversion
The pesky flies are able to recycle, cleanly and efficiently, the enormous volume of food waste produced by industry, households and agriculture.
'Nearly three million tonnes of organic waste is generated in Switzerland each year. For want of an appropriate separate collection system, most of this ends up in incinerators. Throwing away material with such a high nutritional and energy value is not just a waste but an economic mistake,' says Elisa Filippi, founder and CEO of TicInsect.
Filippi, who holds a degree in animal production science, opened a laboratory in the Italian-speaking town of Tesserete last year with the aim of showing how organic waste can be managed and processed in a new way. The workers at this pilot plant are tens of thousands of larvae of the black soldier fly, a variety that is highly resistant to disease, cold and other environmental factors, as well as being easy to handle and used to living in crowded conditions wherever they find organic matter. The larvae are highly voracious and can polish off a pizza in a matter of a few hours.
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