We believe that insect breeding can be an innovative addition to the traditional agricultural activities on existing farms. Depending on (locally) available resources, on one hand we want to demonstrate the opportunity of deploying a complementing activity in empty farm buildings and on the other hand we want to demonstrate the opportunity of a complete or partial reconversion of an existing farming activity. E.g. the profitability of pig farming is increasingly subject to scaling up. We offer the possibility to obtain a better return per square meter thanks to intensive insect breeding which takes a limited surface. By feeding larvae on local byproducts that feed local livestock, we may provide our agricultural territories with a sustainable loop and hopefully a virtuous cycle towards a better world.

In urban context, most of food waste is disposed in landfills or burnt in incinerators (without any energy gain of course). These are considered as the most common waste management processes, due to logistic costs, legal limitations and consumer behavior. But European law is pushing member states to ban landfills and restrict the deployment of incinerators. Biowaste (or waste of organic material) is now being increasingly directed towards bioconversion processes over traditional waste management processes. Bioconversion occurs by biological processing agents such as microorganisms or enzymes: think of composting, vermicomposting, biodigestion by BSF larvae, biomethanisation and enzymatic fermentation. While transforming organic material into usable products or energy sources, bioconversion helps limiting nuisances and reduces space devoted to landfills. But more essentially, bioconversion limits methane production due to the anaerobic degradation of organic materials in landfills and it limits carbon dioxide released by incinerators. By doing so, bioconversion contributes to reverse the global warming. Furthermore, bioconversion is a natural process that can be operated on a small scale. This way of doing inhibits the hassles and the costs related to heavy logistics and high capex of large municipal waste treatment facilities. Protein Farm is engaged in bioconversion initiatives in Brussels, Belgium. It is an active contributor to the RECYCLO research project.