The smiling European scientist, whenever he is in front of an audience, pulls out of his bag and presents two common transparent jars containing shavings of a strange dark material. He then explains that this material is particularly a simple to make, but innovative substance, a … secret that can be a solution to one of humanity’s great problems. “I am Piotr Barzak, I am the Circular Economy Program Manager at the African Circular Economy Network (ACEN) Foundation, an expert on zero waste issues -waste policies, zero waste, separate collection- and I want to talk to you about technology Black Soldier Fly, an innovative biological wastewater management technology. A technology that has a particularly… interesting origin!” he declares with a slight dose of mystery to the radio station of APE BEE, “Agency 104.9FM”.

The hero flies

The big problem that planet Earth has today with its more than eight billion inhabitants is waste, and the Black Soldier Fly technology uses as a means of dealing with… the humble common fly that lives where high temperatures prevail. “Yes, they are the ones we all know… the common flies. Through this technology one can take and use their larvae which are an important source of pure protein as well as fat. They are materials that can then be fed as feed to animals, while the food these larvae eat comes from biowaste streams. At the same time, however, from this process and beyond the food that the larvae consume, another substance is produced, which in essence is… the excrement of the larvae. The result: from one ton of bio-waste, you can produce 400 kg of such materials as well as 200 kg of larvae” explains Mr. Barzak and emphasizes that “these are products that can then be sold and for which there is in fact a very high demand at the market.

“We all think of flies as something particularly annoying, but in reality flies only live to reproduce. They don’t have a mouth to bite, to eat, so they’re not really annoying at all. All they do is drink and reproduce and so the larvae use our own bio-waste and in this way even for example human waste can be turned into organic matter for fertilizer but also into proteins which can be returned to continuity in livestock production. In this way, they will replace fertilizer preparations based on soy or other synthetic fertilizers. So this is a solution to take things further, a solution in which we can invest more since today it is an undervalued solution compared to other existing solutions”, explains the European scientist.

“It is something that farmers need for production in livestock units but also in horticultural production as with this product the quality of the soil can be improved and the crops can be improved. But at the same time, with this technology, you manage your bio-waste better, something that is very important all over the world, but especially in the southern hemisphere”, emphasizes the zero waste expert. Food waste is a major issue in the global south. “There we have a lot of bio-waste and up to 60% to 70% of it is organic waste, so in order to properly manage this situation, creating such products (s.s. through the Black Soldier Fly technology) is a way to ahead” adds Mr. Barzak, who is quick to emphasize that this technology is not competitive with composting, which he characterizes as an excellent solution, but is a complementary process. “It’s a process that nature itself gives us, it involves flies, and flies are the ones that produce these products,” as he describes.

Win for all

The specific products such as animal feed and proteins are, according to the European expert, absolutely safe while the production process can be carried out in a decentralized, local way so that every small farmer can have access to the specific technology without having to have special skills. “It is a low-tech technology that does not have many energy needs and requirements. Basically all you’re doing is managing the flies so they reproduce, produce larvae, feed on biowaste and then reproduce again and the cycle continues. In this whole process bio-waste is reduced and at the same time the climate is improved because you have less waste in landfills, so you also have less methane escaping into the atmosphere. So this is a win-win-win technology where everyone wins…” he points out.

The team behind the Black Soldier Fly technology is currently working on Ethiopiathe Uganda and Ivory Coast with the Africa to be the field on which knowledge on technology is sought to increase. “It is mainly the governments, however, that must see this as one of the solutions and promote it, see it in a policy framework and eliminate any obstacles that may exist so that the use of this technology becomes more widespread”, comments Mr. Barzak. At a later stage, there is also the possibility of using the results even on the human plate, since one of the two main products that come out of this process is for use on the ground, but the other is edible. “Larvae have a high protein content as up to 35% of their composition is protein, while 25% is fat. So it is something that can be eaten by animals, but it can also be eaten by humans. This can be done by microwaving or using an oven to dehydrate. Animals can be fed directly fresh, while it can also be mixed with other types of food, essentially making a powder out of this material,” explains Mr. Barzak.

Of course, there is currently no way to do something like this in Europe. “The issue is that in some countries, for example in Europe, the legislation does not allow these larvae to feed on organic bio-lysates. This is because the legislation determines that it is then not legal for humans to consume the products. This is based on Europe’s policies, which are somewhat outdated,” commented the zero-waste expert. According to him, these larvae can handle almost all kinds of bacteria, pathogens and microbes so that the final product is edible. “However, I will obviously leave this to the laboratories and to the scientists who will decide on the standards that will be appropriate for something like this…”, added the scientist.

No more bio-waste landfills

The goal for this particular technology is ambitious but realistic according to Mr. Barzak. “I hope that this technology will work as a complementary process to composting and that it will give high economic values ​​and jobs especially in the global south. This is because the global south is more suitable for this particular production as there is heat there – the existence of heat is necessary for the Black Soldier Fly process. So organic materials and waste will no longer go to landfills. We don’t want organic waste waste in landfills in addition because it produces methane which is harmful to the environment while at the same time it binds many resources, many important substances for cultivation. Substances that farmers will then have to reintroduce into the soil. It is always necessary to revitalize our soils and Black Soldier Fly is one of the technologies along with composting that can be the answer to this problem. This is my hope, our program…”, explains Mr. Barzak.

As for an application of the technology in Greece, the European expert expressed a concern but also an optimistic point of view. “As far as I know, Greece has not implemented to a very good degree the regulations for the collection of bio-waste, which by the way is a mandate from this year (2024) based on the relevant directive, the so-called waste framework directive, article 22. I have to to urge your country to do it as soon as possible as in every municipality 100% of organic waste must be separated. Then there will be several tons of material that could be composted food, and why not, if some innovative entrepreneurs wanted to take these technologies that we have mentioned with the Black Soldier Fly larvae, I would be very happy if I could to offer consulting services together with the team we have on how this technology can be organized, installed and operated in Greece”, answers the zero waste expert.

So the flies have become something like little… heroes? “Of course! They will save our planet! Flies can save our planet… I will adopt this slogan,” commented the European expert scientist.