Wastech

Larvae as weapon against food waste

Delhaize and partner Wastech are introducing an innovative system in which live larvae are used to dispose of surplus fruit and vegetables and are then used in the production of pet food, among other things. 

Delhaize has long been committed to maximising food waste prevention. Food that is still fit to eat is donated to the Food Bank, for example. With the pilot project "From Waste To Feed" they now also want to process unusable fruit and vegetable surpluses sensibly. For this, they joined forces with Wastech. This start-up devised an ingenious system in which living larvae process the food surpluses, after which the larvae themselves are then processed into proteins for animal feed production or into fertiliser for fish and chicken farming. Specifically, fruit and vegetables are first converted by machines into a substance that the larvae can absorb. About 10 days after the larvae consume the surplus food, the larvae themselves can be processed.

This repurposing of expired fruits and vegetables results in a win-win situation. On the one hand, surplus food is disposed of and reused in a meaningful way. On the other hand, using larvae as a protein source for animal feed also significantly reduces CO2 emissions. This is because larvae are an alternative to soy as a protein. Wastech can supply about the same amount of protein with one container as a soybean plantation of 10 football fields in size.

Delhaize and Wastech's pilot project is currently running at fruit and vegetable supplier Bakker Belgium. If the results are positive, the plan is to apply Wastech's system on a larger scale to maximise food waste reduction.