The objective is the generation of diverse products with added value, starting from waste, and using insects as biofactories.

Among the residues that we have already valued to a greater or lesser extent are those coming from the hotel industry, vegetable waste from horticultural crops, fruits, by-products of the viticulture industry (skins and sediments from yeasts), from the brewing industry (bagasse and yeast sediments), residues obtained in the production of cane sugar, molasses or beets, residues of industrialization of olive oil or oils from seeds, etc.

In this valuation model, a waste, or a group of them, are previously characterized and either separately, or by designing a balanced mix of all of them, they are arranged in the production system. An established amount of larvae is available on this food, which in a cycle of only 12 days are able to increase its mass by 50 times.

This larval mass is subsequently processed to obtain products with added value, such as defatted flours with a high protein content, fatty acids, compost, etc.

Currently the legislation allows the inclusion of this type of flours in animal feed, for pets and aquaculture, and for human consumption (previous registration), provided that residues are used mostly of plant origin. It is expected that by 2020 its inclusion in feed for monogastric animals will be allowed. The advantages of including this type of flours in animal feed have already been scientifically described.

The competitive advantage of this model is clear: we start from a waste with little value, and we obtain a variety of products with added value in a biological cycle of only 12 days, without producing contaminants or unwanted by-products.

The approximation is similar to the valuation model, but underlining that the objective is the reduction of the waste taking advantage of the insect’s conversion capacity, and not the generation of products with high added value.

In this model we would select waste as manure from livestock (with special interest in poultry litter), slurry, sludge from WWTP, digestates, etc. This waste poses a continuous problem not only for the producers of this waste, but also for the managers that must collect and process them.

In this process, after the characterization of the waste, these would be introduced into the system (mixed or not with other waste), and a certain amount of larvae would be established on the waste. In this case, the larval cycle would lengthen to about 20-27 days, since the nutritive content of these feeding substrates is much lower, and the obtained larval mass will also be lower.

Waste reduction is centered around two criteria and objectives.
Volume reduction: 60-70% Reduction of pathogenic microbial load: ex. 109 ->102 *

* Depends on the initial load and desired end. Final objective depends on whether it will give you further treatment.

Both objectives must be quantified and validated, since they depend on the specific mix of waste, how standard it is and its previous and subsequent handling. For example, the total lapse of time (storage,
transport, temperature, etc.) before being all mixed and the application of the larvae can have an effect on the pH, and this in turn the quantity and effectiveness of the larvae.

The technical advantage of using larvae of the species Hermetia illucens is that by making ‘ideal’ mixtures of different residues, mixtures can be processed that could not be treated in another way or at very high costs.

The competitive advantage of this treatment method is that variants can be developed for each mixture according to the needs of each specific geographical region; or legislative requirements. It opens a market that has not yet been attended to and explored.