In November, Christof Industries took part in the Recy & Depotech Conference, Austria’s largest conference on the topic of recycling and the waste management industry. Because of the Corona virus, the conference took place virtually.
Christof Industries held a presentation on the exciting possibilities for using insects in waste management. The presentation focussed on the current legal and commercial situation, as well as the industrial-scale insect protein plant that Christof Industries is developing. Christof Industries‘ involvement represents a significant contribution to the industrialisation of insect protein technology.
Background:
The use of insects has entered its industrialisation stage and offers several sustainable options for waste management, nutrient recycling and the circular economy. An industrial insect waste conversion facility consists of multiple stages including feed preparation, insect rearing and breeding as well as a processing plant.
Possible inputs range from
- pre- and post-consumer food wastes,
- by-products from the food and feed industry,
- residual agricultural side streams to sludge,
- manure,
- human faeces and others.
The outputs can either be whole insects, either alive or dehydrated, or particular products won from their onward processing (protein, oil, etc.) as well as the remaining organic material. This presentation gives an overview of the insect market, its potential as a waste management solution as well as the technological development of this fast growing industry.
Photo credit: Montanuniversität Leoben