Circular economy solutions company, Goterra, is expanding its food waste reduction scheme in partnership with the City of Sydney. Residents will collect their food waste and send them to a facility in Alexandria to be broken down by black soldier fly larvae, turning it into protein-rich animal feed and fertiliser.
Food scraps will be fed to black soldier fly larvae housed inside shipping container-sized units, which can eat twice their own body weight every day. Their manure will be processed into fertiliser, and the maggots are processed into protein, rich in vitamins and minerals that can be fed to fish and poultry or even turned into pet food.
The 12 month trial will begin later this year, and is expected to turn over 600 tonnes of food waste, for a more sustainable system. Food scraps make up around one third of general waste, and emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas, upon decomposition in landfill.
The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, said that this was New South Wales’ next step in the war against waste.
“Using maggots is an innovative and sustainable solution for this growing problem. 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,” she said.
Unlike other insects, the black soldier fly isn’t a vector for disease and its larvae breaks down bacteria in the organic material consumed.
Goterra CEO, Olympia Yarger, said that the project has the potential to revolutionise food waste management for residential food waste and logistics in major cities.
“We know food waste represents 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. If it were a country, its emissions would be the 3rd 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,” said Yarger.
Goterra’s system is already being implemented by Woolworths, with trials run since 2020, and a dedicated installation at the company’s Wetherill Park facility. Goterra has also collaborated with End Food Waste Australia, formerly the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre, with research at the University of Queensland.
More than 21,000 households in Sydney are currently part of a food scraps recycling trial, which began in July 2019. Residents of apartment buildings can submit an expression of interest for their building to join the program.
The city is working to extend the service to all residents, in line with the state government’s mandate for councils to provide food and garden waste collections to every New South Wales household by 2030.
