INTERVIEW 30 Alternative Proteins Magazine April 2024 To tell more about this specific insect, a Greater Wax Moth lives exclusively on beeswax. A female moth lay 300 to 600 eggs in clusters on combs or in small cracks in hive material. The eggs hatch within 3 to 5 days when temperatures range from 29°C to 35°C. After hatching, the small very active larvae dig tunnels in comb. During millions and millions of years of its evolution, this insect has adopted itself to digest beeswax, that is extremely resistant to degradation and if not for Greater Wax Moths we would probably have a huge amount of accumulated beeswax on our planet. Could all plastic waste be converted through this way? What are the types of plastic waste that insects can consume and which insect species can digest these plastic wastes? Until now, everything we have tested, i.e. more than 90% of commonly used plastic and polymeric materials have worked perfectly well. I would mention some plastic materials such as Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polystyrene, Polyamide, Polyacrylate, Polyester, Polyurethane and their mixtures and co-polymers, including natural fibres and biopolymers as well. Thus, we are tackling one of the biggest issues within the waste treating industry, i.e. working with dirty lasting waste streams where everything that can be recycled has already been sorted out, and the only destination of those lasting waste streams would have been the incineration. Can the insects you use for this conversion be used for human or animal nutrition? What can you tell us about the products that can be obtained from these insects, as well as their fields of use? The nutritional composition of the thus obtained larvae makes it very suitable for human and animal food, yet we need to comply with the specific regulations. And here, in Europe there are three main stages, feed for the animals that do not enter in the human value chain i.e. pets and fur animals – our products can be directly used there. Feed for animals that do enter the human food value chain – several tests need to be made for the validation by EFSA; for human food, there is a need to pass through the so called “novel food” regulation. For these reasons, our primary target is pet food and food for fur animals. Are we sure that this is a healthy conversion? Would the usage of these insects in animal feed pose a threat to human and animal health, as well as food safety? Are there any studies regarding this topic? We have been conducting several studies in this field, and until now we have never found any undesirable compounds, such as heavy metals or flame-retardant agents, in the final products. Moreover, some other insects, for instance Hermetia illucens, a black soldier fly, that eager to convert manure, are currently to be shown to detoxify the substrates they are growing on. That is the insects, may actually contribute to transform substrates unlikely to be consumed to actually safe food for humans and animals. What is the cost and efficiency of this conversion? For example, how many insects can be raised with how many tons of waste? Approximately 100 pieces of larvae consume an ordinary shopping plastic bag within 24 hours. If plastics are grinded or broken into small pieces the process goes even faster. For our first demonstration prototype, we are aiming to convert 5 000 tons of plastic waste per year that allows us to produce about 1,7 tons of larvae. Larvae grow between five or seven weeks to become wax moths that in their turn lay new eggs and create a circular process of reproduction. Then larvae are ready to become new moths, we harvest about ninety percent of them and leave the rest for the next step of reproduction. What would such a conversion bring to the world? First and foremost, we are offering solutions to the urgent problems such as plastic waste pollution and hunger. Obviously, traditional ways to solve these problems are not efficient enough. Time is crucial to find alternatives ways and allow innovations to enter. There is no silver bullet, everything counts! We simply do not have time to wait for some miraculous breakthroughs. We need commitment from
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