Jason Ongkowijaya, Joash Lim Shen, Mabel Khaw Shi Qi, Sneha Sunil Pillai, Yew Kai Zhe
Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay
Food waste in Singapore has risen by over 40% over the last decade, amounting to over 800,000 tons per year. However, only 16% of this volume of waste is recycled. Thus, there is a need to increase the food waste recycling rate through innovative and inexpensive means. Black Soldier Fly (BSF) waste processing is a growing area of research due to their ability to eat up to 4 times their size, low cost, and space efficiency. The aim of our project is to increase youths’ willingness to adopt Black Soldier Fly food waste recycling in their respective homes. Our group conducted a pre and post survey on youth aged between 15-30 years on Instagram, with an educational campaign between the release of both surveys. We also created a prototype of a small scale BSF food waste recycling kit and conducted focus groups to test its feasibility as a household recycling system. We received feedback from BSF researchers on our prototype which enabled us to create a more efficient and feasible system. Our survey findings have shown that educating consumers on how the BSF process occurs results in an increase in receptiveness to adopting BSF recycling. More research and information is needed to be shared among the public before we can effectively implement BSF recycling on a larger scale.
Keywords: food waste, waste management; black soldier flies