By Jasmine Ng
(Bloomberg) — A Singapore company will feed airport food waste to crickets and mealworms and then turn them into fish feed, aiming to reduce the country’s use of imported feed and provide a sustainable alternative.
Blue Aqua International will partner with dnata, an airline and travel services provider, to convert organic waste from its catering and ground handling operations at Singapore Changi Airport into insect protein for aquaculture, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The project aims to replace traditional fish and soy meal as the main protein source for aquaculture feed. The insects eat the food waste and convert it into body biomass, which is about 60% protein. The dried larvae are then used to make feed.
Insects are proving to be a sustainable solution to several problems. They use a fraction of the land area and emit less carbon, turn food waste into animal feed, and provide an alternative source of protein. Ynsect SAS, a French startup that breeds mealworms to feed fish and pets, raised money in a funding round last year from investors including “Iron Man” film actor Robert Downey Jr.
The agreement will give Singapore’s farmers access to domestically produced animal feed that they traditionally source from overseas. The Southeast Asian country imports more than 90 percent of its food and has set a goal of producing a third of its food locally by 2030. It also aims to achieve a recycling rate of 70 percent by then. Currently, less than 20 percent of Singapore’s food waste is recycled.
As part of the partnership, Dubai-based dnata will add Blue Aqua to its list of suppliers to purchase locally farmed seafood for its catering operations.
© 2021 Bloomberg L.P.
