The project aims to obtain value from the waste of the livestock supply chain (poultry manure) as well as from other organic waste, using insects, and namely Black Soldier flies. Its key goals are as follows:
- Designing and developing a demonstration plant to rear the black soldier flies (BSFs) on different organic substrates to produce prepupae and high quality compost;
- Isolating and characterizing macromolecules from BSFs’ prepupae and optimizing the fractioning processes;
- Planning, optimizing, and characterizing the physical properties of the bioplastics derived from the BSFs’ prepupae proteins and assessing their complete biodegradability at the end of the cycle;
- Carrying out an agronomic analysis of the compost obtained to evaluate its quality (C/N ratio, nutritional elements and microbiologic analysis);
- Evaluating the sustainability and feasibility of all production processes in terms of environmental performance (LCA).
- Assessing the legal issue related to alternative uses of organic waste and the employment of insects in animal feed and human food.