Department Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development
Black Soldier Fly Biowaste Processing

Many organic waste sources make an excellent feed substrate for the larvae of the black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae). Given the right circumstances, the larvae are able to reduce the waste material by 50-80% and convert up to 20% of the waste material into larval biomass within ±14 days. The grown larvae make an excellent protein source in animal feed and their sale can contribute to lower waste treatment cost and potential income opportunities from organic waste.
BSF projects
- SWIFT (Sustainable Waste-based Insect Farming Technologies): An applied research project with the overall objective to enable and foster adoption of waste-based Black Soldier Fly (BSF) insect farming technologies for smallholder farmers and small and medium enterprises with a specific focus on Uganda and Malawi.
- FORWARD (From ORganic WAste to Recycling for Development): An applied research project in Indonesia that developed a manually operated BSF site and is now assisting public and private partners on setting up their sites
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BIWAP (Boosting Insect Waste Processing): Focuses on several distinct processing units to enhance effectivity and efficiently, both connected closely to cost which again influences financial viability of the facility.
- SIBRE (Sustainability of Insect-Based Recycling Enterprises): Developing knowledge and practical tools required for small & medium enterprises to assess economic perspectives of using BSF for valorizing organic waste.
- Dr. Moritz Gold, 2020: explores decomposition by BSF larvae feedstock formulation for efficient animal feed production BSFL-microbial relationship to increase BSFL processing; and the effect of contaminated substrates on BSFL processing for safe animal feed production.
Thesis: Towards more efficient biowaste utilization with black soldier fly larvae to produce more sustainable animal feed - Dr. Daniela Peguero, 2023: explores physical and chemical pretreatment of substrates to enhance BSFL digestibility as well ensuring safety of dried BSFL.
Thesis: Pretreatments to improve black soldier fly larvae performance and safeguarding insect-based food and feed
Discover BSF research at Sandec on Black Soldier Fly biowaste processing covering different themes. Explore our publications on diverse aspects below:
Pretreatment methods, biowaste formulations and biowaste conversion -publications
Environmental impact, cost modeling and hygiene aspects of BSFL-publications
Peguero, D. A., Gold, M., Duewell, T., Waser, A., Dubovcova, B., Vandeweyer, D., ... & Mathys, A. (2023). Low energy electron beam to support safe whole dried insect products. Journal of Insects as Food and Feed, 1(aop), 1-17.