Open and Closed Black Soldier Fly Systems Tradeoff Analysis

Abstract

When it comes to waste management, it is essential to consider human and environmental safety, financial feasibility, and social benefits. So often, one of these factors takes priority over the others. However, integrated social, environmental, and economic benefits are more apparent with insect-based waste treatment technology like the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) system. BSF waste treatment is an innovative and adaptable technique that offers sustainable benefits to communities in developing countries because it can be designed to be as simple or complex as required. Depending on the local context, simple (open) systems based on naturally occurring flies or more complex (closed) systems based on captured fly colonies are viable. However, what are the environmental tradeoffs when choosing between these two systems? The surge in the use of both BSF systems makes this consideration imperative. Furthermore, until now, the environmental and social impacts of open BSF waste treatment systems have not been compared. The environmental tradeoffs in implementing an affordable, socially accepted, open BSF biowaste treatment system are explored in this study to address this gap. Co-production for delivering public services was used to develop an accepted BSF system through a case study by applying qualitative interaction research methodologies. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was then used to compare the environmental impacts of natural ovipositing BSF systems compared to captured BSF systems. Natural ovipositing BSF (open) systems, in comparison, have reduced climate change (33%) and water, land, and energy use (55%, 37% and 32%) while also motivating the development of socially accepted infrastructure measured through community engagement. This mixed-methods approach facilitates the development of contextually appropriate technology in low-income communities in developing and developed countries while also reducing environmental consequences.