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Project
Valorization of Insect Frass (Valoresect)
ValoReSect aims to set up a hub in Flanders for the valorisation of residual insect substrate in order to facilitate the creation of processing chains. By informing the sector through case studies about the legal requirements, financial and practical feasibility to process the residual insect substrate into sustainable raw material for the production of soil improvers or fertilizers, this project aims to link the various links in the valorization chain. The valorisation chain starts with insect breeders, as a producer of the residual substrate, and goes through specialized transport companies, processors and producers of soil improvers and fertilizers to the end users. Suppliers of insect breeders and various processing techniques are also included in this. The project results can be implemented directly by the various links in the chain and the involvement of these actors in the guidance group is an example of this. Moreover, the presence of BIIF (Belgium Insect Industry Federation, 50 members), IPIFF (International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed, 80 members), VCM (34 members) and the Flemish government (SPI (20 members), OVAM, FASFC ) ensure that all Flemish companies of the sectors concerned as well as the competent authorities will be reached and can provide input for the realization of the project objectives.In order to realize the processing chain for the valorization of residual insect substrate, this project maps out on the one hand the economic profitability of alternative processing processes, as well as the safety and quality of the processed end product. On the other hand, clarity is also provided about how the various actors can participate in the valorisation chain.
Date:1 Sep 2021 → 31 Aug 2023
Keywords:Insects, Frass, Valorization, Soil Improvement, fertilizer
Disciplines:Agricultural animal production not elsewhere classified, Other biological sciences not elsewhere classified
Project type:Collaboration project
Results:
BSF frass can be composted in a standard outdoor compost pile, but more work is required on the procedure to reach the target 70 degrees Celsius.
• MW frass is too dry, which means it absorbs a lot of moisture in a compost heap and ferments rather than composting.
• Composting on an industrial scale has not been studied and should certainly be looked into.
• Digesters cannot be fed with 100% BSF or MW frass, BUT this does NOT rule out the possibility that frass can be used as a supplement for conventional digestates (full analysis/discussion still ongoing by Inolab).
• BSF and MW can be dried at 70 deg C, but the bacterial load is not always reduced sufficiently for MW frass. Probably because MW is so dry and water is needed to kill bacteria.
• Frass can serve as a fertilizer, but the limited trials we have conducted show no additional benefits over chemical fertilizers. Further research is certainly necessary as preliminary tests with strawberries indicate better root development and moderate influence on fruit composition (complete processing still ongoing by KULEUVEN)
• Leaching of NPK from frass, fertilizer and dried chicken manure shows that frass performs better (retains nutrients better) than chemical fertilizer and similar to slightly better than chicken manure. Here too, more work is needed with frass from multiple growers (influence of nutrition), throughout the year (influence of season on nutrition and cultivation) and on different types of soil.