SS02 – Food Waste Up-Cycler

The food waste problem worldwide has been deteriorating for decades, especially in Hong Kong, where the situation is getting worse disturbingly. To combat this problem, we aim to use black soldier flies, an insect consuming food waste at a fast speed to ease the burden. In this study, a complete system will be developed to maintain an optimum living environment for black soldier flies thus facilitating their food consumption rate. With the aid of the IoT system, the temperature and relative humidity were successfully controlled in the range of 25-35oC and around 70% respectively. The food waste consumption was 130g at the beginning and it was doubled with our automatic adjustment prototype compared to control. Our system also provided a stage separation compartment for the development of black soldier flies. Besides consuming food waste, the black soldier fly has a high utilization value and can produce various products. Therefore, the black soldier fly represents a brand new method for waste resource utilization with low energy consumption but high output value. With the aid of black soldier flies, not only do we hope to solve the food waste problem in small communities, but we also contribute to making the world a better place.