Industrial Symbiosis in Insect Production—A Sustainable Eco-Efficient and Circular Business Model

Chloé Phan Van PhI, Maye Walraven, Marine Bézagu, Maxime Lefranc and Clément Ray
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Chloé Phan Van PhI: InnovaFeed, Route de Chaulnes, Lieudit Les Trente, 80190 Nesle, France
Maye Walraven: InnovaFeed, Route de Chaulnes, Lieudit Les Trente, 80190 Nesle, France
Marine Bézagu: InnovaFeed, Route de Chaulnes, Lieudit Les Trente, 80190 Nesle, France
Maxime Lefranc: InnovaFeed, Route de Chaulnes, Lieudit Les Trente, 80190 Nesle, France
Clément Ray: InnovaFeed, Route de Chaulnes, Lieudit Les Trente, 80190 Nesle, France

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: Insect meal (IM) is a source of high-quality protein for aquafeed while insect oil (IO) is a source of fatty acids used in monogastric feed with identical or better performance than premium fishmeal (FM) or vegetable oils (VOs) respectively. Although insects’ ability to feed on agricultural by-products and the entire valorization of insect products (IM, IO, frass) suggest insect production is sustainable, no studies have documented its environmental impact using industrial-scale production data. The present study is the first attributional life cycle assessment (A-LCA) based on data from an industrial-scale facility implementing an innovative symbiosis production model. This A-LCA was used to (i) assess the environmental performance of the symbiosis model vs. a no-symbiosis model and (ii) compare the environmental impacts of IM and IO production vs. their respective alternatives. The results revealed that the symbiosis model introduces a meaningful change in terms of environmental footprint by reducing CO 2 emissions by 80% and fossil resources depletion by 83% compared to the no-symbiosis model. The higher sustainability of the IM and IO produced using the symbiosis model was also demonstrated, as CO 2 emissions were reduced by at least 55% and 83% when compared to the best FM and VOs alternatives, respectively.

Keywords: industrial symbiosis; alternative protein; insect meal; insect oil; frass; sustainable production; environmental impact; circular economy; organic fertilizer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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