To process organic waste and produce edible products Entoq's process draws on the special capabilities of Hermetia illucens, the Black Soldier Fly (BSF). Entoq has developed an innovative continuous process using the BSF to recover nutrients from food waste and digestible organic components. This consists of a ‘digesting circuit’ that provides ideal conditions for the Black Soldier Fly larvae to flourish and optimize nutrient recovery. The recovered nutrients are then re-formed and re-purposed into ‘new’ products that are channeled back into the consumption cycle.
Black Soldier Fly
Hermetia illucens
A true fly, of the familyStratiomyidae, H.illucens is commonly known as the Black Soldier Fly. The species was originally native to the Americas, but now occurs worldwide in tropical and temperate regions. Adult flies are harmless: they consume nothing but water, do not bite or sting, and are not a vector for disseminating any specific diseases. The larvae feed on an immense variety of organic material, and are particularly good at processing manure, rice straw, food waste, fecal sludge, animal offal, and kitchen waste and other organics. They might be the most efficient waste processors among all flies.
The benefits of the BSF
BSF can provide a commercial and sustainable food source, with feed conversion ratios superior to both crickets and mealworms. BSF’s larval stage is longer than house and carrion flies — thus a single BSF larva will consume a larger amount of substrate and produce a larger pupae. BSF larvae at the pre-pupa stage instinctively leave the substrate and seek out a high, clean place, a behavior that can be harnessed for “self- harvesting” in production, which removes an otherwise labor-intensive step from their farming. BSF are edible by animals and humans (tastes permitting, of course), accumulate sufficient lipids to permit conversion into biodiesel, and as a nitrogen-rich frass can be used as fertilizer. They are a highly practical organism to process organic waste and also a sustainable food source.