Jakarta: Hotels, restaurants and other food businesses collaborate with maggot farms to convert food waste into fertiliser and animal feed.
In about a month, the larvae of the black soldier fly consume the organic waste, grow into pupae and then into flies.
The project, run by Terra Maggot, is one answer to the problem of food waste in the capital of Indonesia, which is home to millions of people.
The larvae can be processed into animal feed and the remaining organic matter can be used as fertiliser.
The company's CEO Axl Tilaar said that one existing partner facility can process 100 kilograms of food waste a day.
The company is also looking at building larger plants and spending more on processing.
Terra Maggot is also exploring the possibility of producing “maggot blocks” that would allow other companies to independently cultivate black soldier flies.
The area of such blocks would be from 1,000 to 3,000 square meters.
In big cities, the mixing of food waste with plastic bags and other rubbish is a serious problem.
When mixed with other rubbish, food waste is almost impossible to separate from other refuse.
Moreover, the food industry seriously affects the environment and plastic packaging leads to waste management problems in cities.
Hence the necessity of developing new recycling methods.
If food waste were separated from other trash, it would be easier to gather and recycle organic material.
Such a way would also help to get rid of ugly waste dumps and to decrease the amount of garbage in general.
“If we could separate food waste, then recycling would be more efficient.”
It would also help supply a steady stream of organic matter to use in animal feed and fertiliser.
It would also reduce the plastic in the dump as it would be separated from the food waste and could be recycled.
Such a system would need a waste separation system to be implemented.
Businesses would need to separate food waste from other waste and special vehicles would need to be built to collect it.
The government could also help by making big producers of food waste separate their waste and recycle it using special equipment.
It would also be important to establish a dialogue between waste producers and recycling companies and to create safety standards for animal feed and fertiliser made from food waste.
“Food waste from restaurants and hotels is a great opportunity,” said Axl Tilaar.
It can be used for recycling organic waste and making animal feed, but it needs proper preparation for this.
This calls for the implementation of a system that separates food waste from other types of trash.
