Food waste 2
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Ecoloop AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 4 932 480 |
| Project duration | November 2020 - September 2022 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Circular and biobased economy |
Important results from the project
A developed pilot plant took crop waste from aquaponics for feed production. A positive result gave good growth to the fish. A demonstration facility was built with the goal of handling 1.5 tons of food waste/day. Problems with persistent odors from the plant temporarily halted insect production, but it is now operational. Through a system analysis, relevant food companies were identified for food waste. This led to several interesting large suppliers. The contacts with the authorities were deepened and this gave the opportunity for further rule and technology development.
Expected long term effects
The project was able to demonstrate that it worked to make circular fish feed via insects that received waste from the aquaponin´s plants. It also worked to use large waste streams from the food industry which today are downgraded or destroyed. A larger demonstration plant was built and would have been used for the industrial food waste. The plant had odor problems that needed to be solved before it could be used within the project. The problems are now fixed. The system analysis showed the importance of upgrading food waste in circular systems.
Approach and implementation
Project was carried out according to plan. Two plants were built, one of which was a small pilot used in aquaponics. The larger demonstration facility would handle 1.5 tons of food waste/day. The facility did not reach capacity due to insect production, caused odor problems that took time to deal with. It is now resolved. The system approach to find and produce large volumes of food waste worked well. Continuous flows are now available for the demonstration plant which continues to test and develop methods for the food waste streams.