From Pilot to Full Scale Operationof a Waste-to-Protein Treatment Facility

Christian Zurbrügg, Bram Dortmans, Audinisa Fadhila, Stefan Diener

Just one slide on the rationale

Waste management is still a challenge in low income settings

Organic solid waste is 50-80% of waste mass and is yet hardly recovered and recycled

Strategies and policies are more and more including aspects of circular economy

Current organic waste recovery/recycling still faces a «value chain» challenge

Compost typically has limited value and customers are not where the product is

Biogas often suffers from cheap energy competition

Char production (or biomass fuel) is promising but limited to dry materials

How else can we create value from waste?

Possibilities

D I R E C TU S E

B I O L O G I C A L T R E A T M E N T

T H E R M O –C H E M I C A L

T R E A T M E N T

Direct land

application

Directanimalfeed

Com‐post‐ing

Vermi‐compost‐

ing

BlackSoldier Flytreatment 

An‐aerobicdigestion

Fer‐men‐tation

Pyro‐lysis

Gasifi‐cation

Meat/fishproduction

Compost

Worms

Larvae Biogas

Digest‐ate

Bio‐ethanol

Transportfuel

CharBio‐oil Gas

Cooking fuel/heat/electricity

Resi‐due

Lique‐fact‐ion

Direct com‐

bustion

Bio-energyAgricultureAnimal

husbandry

P R O D U C T S

E N D – U S E

P R O C E S S E S

P H Y S I C O -C H E M I C A L

T R E A T M E N T

Trans‐esteri‐fication

Bio‐diesel

Densi‐fication

Pellets/briquettes

Gly‐cerol

Cropsproduction

T E C H N O L O G I E S

Lohri C.R., et al. (2017). Treatment technologies for urban solid biowaste to create value products – a review with focus on low and middle income settings. Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology. 16/1, pp 81–130.

Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens

Young larvae

Larvae

PrepupaePupae

Adult fly

Mating

Eggs

~1 month

Larvae feed on organic material• Fruits & vegetables• Food waste• Slaughterhouse waste• Chicken manure• Human faeces

Conversion of 1 ton of foodwaste into 250 kg fresh larvaewithin 12 days

Larvae contain ~40% proteinand ~30% fat

Material reduction of 70-85% dry matter

Createsvalue from

waste

Good substitute• Fishmeal• Soymeal

Engineering BSF

Waste treatment requiresa steady mass production

of small larvae

Engineering of thelife-cycle

Engineered life cycle

Control over:• # prepupae• # eggs• # flies• 5‐DOL production• Survival rate• Retention rate• Development time• …

Waste treatment

Pilot facility: Surabaya, Indonesia

Engineering BSF

Post-processing BSF

Costing BSF

Costing BSF (1 t/day)

Activity Unit Euro/Year % of totalRearing units 31%

Labour 2483Consumables 1095Annual equipment costs 1526

Other units 56%Labour 4966Consumables 881Annual equipment costs 3545

Indirect costs 2174 13%Total 16’670 100%

Labour 45%Consumables 12%Equipment 30%

Scaling to x5 without much addition

Scaling will require some automation

$

t/d

Challenges

Waste-derived products& marketsBSF Treatment TechnologyWaste Sourcing

Cherry-picking or solving public challenges?

Nursery

Treatment

Quality control!Multiple revenue streams!

BSF research conducted

Life cycle• Feeding substrates• Reproduction cycle

Operation• Waste treatment technology• Rearing facility

Product safety• Health risks (pathogens, heavy

metals, pharmaceuticals)• Post-treatment options

Pilot facilities• Sweden: optimization of

rearing facility

• Indonesia: treatment ofMOSW

• Tanzania: fish feedproduction from fruit waste

Economy• Time-motion-studies• Economy of scale• Development of business

models

Environment• LCA• Greenhouse gas emissions• Circular economy (integrated

systems)

Education/Dissemination• Beginners Guide• MOOC-Module

Process engineering

Technology implementation

Sustainability aspects

BSF - LCA

Life cycle analysis study in Indonesia

Methods• Measurement of CH4 and

N2O during BSF treatment• Comparison with other

organic waste treatmenttechnologies (composting)

Results• Direct GHG emissions

significantly lower for BSF than composting

• Electricity consumption andsource of electricity mostrelevant for LCA

‐20

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

BSF larvae composting Standard composting

GWP [kg CO

2/ton waste]

Treatment option

Fishmeal transp.

Fishmeal prod.

BSF: Other

Composting: Energy

BSF: LPG

BSF: Electricity

Composting: DirectemissionBSF: Direct emission

OVERALL GWP

Conclusions

113’000 views