The bioeconomy is a hot topic these days, right up at the top of policy agendas. It involves using renewable natural resources as a raw material. The circular bioeconomy introduces circularity into this concept: using what would otherwise be thrown away, using spent biological resources to regenerate ecosystems and minimising waste.

The ECESP website has a good selection of circular bioeconomy-themed content. This series will shine a spotlight on it.

Circular bioeconomy concept: fishfeed and fertiliser from plant by-products

Aquaculture is unsustainable as the fishfeed used exarcerbates overexploitation of marine resources. Entogreen has come up with a sustainable solution.

EntoGreen aims to develop sustainable feed and organic fertilisers by using bio-based technologies to recycle nutrients from agricultural and food waste and reintroducing them into the food chain, thus closing the nutrient cycle. Its main process uses agricultural and food waste as a feedstock to grow black soldier fly larvae. After a few days the larvae, which are rich in protein and fat, can be processed to produce insect protein and oil for use as animal feed. This process also yields insect frass, an excellent natural fertiliser. This completes the circular process.

The insect protein is around 65% protein and, together with insect oil, can be used as a nutrient source for the currently highly unsustainable aquaculture sector.

EntoGreen demonstrates how biological processes can be mimicked (biomimicry) to reduce waste and develop efficient nutrient sources.

So, waste to flies to fed fish and fertilised soil!