Food waste is one of the biggest waste streams in Singapore and the amount of food waste generated has grown by around 20% over the last 10 years. In 2019, Singapore generated around 744 million kg of food waste. That is equivalent to 2 bowls of rice per person per day (Towards Zero Waste, n.d.). With minimising food waste and increasing the volume of homegrown produce set as a main objective in the Singapore Green Plan 2030, the Tampines Town Council has launched a precinct-wide sustainability project in hopes of transforming Tampines into an Eco-Town.

The main feature of the Sustainability @ Tampines Park programme is taking in food waste and turning them into compost and fertiliser for vegetables and crops. The circular ecosystem starts with residents donating their food scraps to multiple food collection points across the neighbourhood. Upon collection, these food scraps will be brought to a black soldier fly facility, where the flies will break down the food materials to form compost. Black soldier fly larvae were chosen over earthworms as they decompose at a faster rate, more than 70% that of earthworms.

After decomposition, what is leftover is termed as frass, or the poop, exoskeleton and leftover food from the larvae. The frass will be used as the main source of fertiliser for the vertical high-tech farms built flanking several HDB buildings. The vertical structure is an ingenious means of utilising vertical space in our land-scare city. Leafy vegetables such as chinese spinach and nai bai the common vegetables planted. The residents even attempted to grow rice, which became a huge success following the harvest of the first batch of Temasek rice in February this year.

Readers might worry about the consequences of the flies become pests in the neighbourhood, but the Tampines plan have this covered as well. Before the larvae can morph into pesky flies, they will be fed to an on-suite tilapia farm. It has been proven that black soldier fly larvae is extremely nutritious, rich in lipids and proteins (Lopes et al., 2022), perfect for rearing plump tilapias.

Such sustainable initiatives are clear signs of residents and the city working together to tackle pollution issues such as food waste, as well as push for more green and sustainable movements.

References

Basil. (2020, December 8). Food waste to food production—Sustainability @ Tampines Park is Singapore’s first community-based green initiative. SETHLUI.Com. https://sethlui.com/sustainability-at-tampines-park-singapore-dec-2020/

Lopes, I. G., Yong, J. W., & Lalander, C. (2022). Frass derived from black soldier fly larvae treatment of biodegradable wastes. A critical review and future perspectives. Waste Management, 142, 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2022.02.007