The Context
Organic waste is constantly increasing and is poorly recycled causing considerable environmental damage. This problem is associated with the exponential increase of the human population and the consumption habits favouring the consumption of animal proteins. These residues generate large amounts of greenhouse gases and leachates, which contaminate soils, water and air. One of the main challenges of the 21st century is the search for a solution for the sustainable management of these organic residues, especially in urban and agro-industrial environments.
The increase in animal production for human consumption has led to an exponential increase in the production of non-recycled organic waste. By analyzing only the Peruvian poultry market, more than one million tons of poorly recycled organic waste are produced, which should be exploited.
To ensure the predicted increase of 50% of the proteins needed to supply the market for farm animal feed, we can’t be relying only on the current production. In the case of soybean production, the main problem is the deforestation of large areas for its cultivation; while for the production of fishmeal the primary drawback is the scarcity of anchovy due to the overexploitation of the marine resource.
The Origin of the project
In 2015, the members of Bioconvertin in partnership with the laboratories of the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia and the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD) had the project to turn the previous laboratory research into a company which improves the quality of life, generates work and is useful for society. The agricultural industries eliminate tons of organic waste that could be used to convert it into products of high nutritional and economic value using insect larvae. Bioconvertin’s main goal is to recycle organic waste through a biotechnological process that consumes little water by producing a flour based on the larvae of these insects to partially replace the protein and lipid intake of soybean and fish meals used in the feeding of farm animals and in aquaculture.
La Solución
Bioconvertin uses larvae of a tropical Peruvian fly with high productivity – in 14 days the larva increases its weight up to 5000 times – which has the capacity to feed on different organic wastes eliminated by agro-industries. These larvae are then converted into animal feed (larva flour) which will gradually replace soybean and fish meals in farm animal feed and aquaculture.
This technology has been developed by the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD), whose laboratories are located in the facilities of the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia. After two years of intense work, we have been able to obtain an optimized pilot of the breeding of this fly that will allow Bioconvertin to reach the final objective of the project: the transition to industrial production of larval flour.
Benefits
- Production of flour rich in proteins, lipids, mineral salts and probiotics.
- Recycling organic waste with low water consumption.
- This process doesn’t contaminate.
- It doesn’t diminish natural resources.
Why use insects in the production of flour ?
- The short life cycle of the insect makes production efficient and viable.
- It demonstrates a very high capacity of bioconversion of organic waste which are transformed into an important larval biomass; contributing to a significant reduction in pollution by recycling waste from restaurants, markets, supermarkets and factories in the food industry.
- Insect metabolism produces high value-added compounds with a nutritional quality equivalent to soybean and fishmeal.
- The process is perfectly integrated into the breeding system.
- This insect doesn’t transmit any disease.
- They are sources of microorganisms that are profitable to the animals that ingest it.