A Singaporean company plans to feed airport food waste to crickets and mealworms before turning them into fish feed, aiming to cut the city-state’s use of imported feed and offer a sustainable alternative.
Blue Aqua International is to partner with dnata, an air and travel services provider, to convert organic waste from its catering and ground handling operations at Singapore Changi Airport into insect protein for aquacultural use, a statement said on Tuesday.
The project seeks to replace traditional fish and soybean meal as the main sources of protein for aquafeed. The insects would eat the food waste and convert it into body biomass containing about 60 percent protein. The dried larvae would then be made into feed.
Insects are emerging as a sustainable solution to several problems. Using a fraction of the land and emitting less carbon, they turn food waste into feed and offer an alternative source of protein.
Ynsect SAS, a French start-up that breeds mealworms to feed fish and pets, attracted money from investors including Iron Man movie actor Robert Downey Jr in a round of fundraising last year.
The deal would give Singaporean farmers access to domestically produced animal feed, which is traditionally purchased from overseas.
The Southeast Asian nation imports more than 90 percent of its food and has set a goal to produce one-third of its food locally by 2030.
It also aims to achieve an overall recycling rate of 70 percent by 2030. Currently, less than 20 percent of Singapore’s food waste is recycled.
As part of the partnership, Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based dnata would add Blue Aqua to its list of suppliers to purchase locally farmed seafood for its catering operations.
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