Mutual Influence between Polyvinyl Chloride (Micro)Plastics and Black Soldier Fly Larvae ( Hermetia illucens L.)

Siebe Lievens, Giulia Poma, Lotte Frooninckx, Tom Van der Donck, Jin Won Seo, Jeroen De Smet, Adrian Covaci and Mik Van Der Borght ()
Additional contact information
Siebe Lievens: Research Group for Insect Production and Processing, Faculty of Engineering Technology, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (M 2 S), KU Leuven Campus Geel, Kleinhoefstraat 4, 2440 Geel, Belgium
Giulia Poma: Toxicological Centre, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
Lotte Frooninckx: RADIUS, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Campus Geel, Kleinhoefstraat 4, 2440 Geel, Belgium
Tom Van der Donck: Faculty of Engineering Science, Department of Materials Engineering (MTM), KU Leuven, Campus Arenberg, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Jin Won Seo: Faculty of Engineering Science, Department of Materials Engineering (MTM), KU Leuven, Campus Arenberg, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Jeroen De Smet: Research Group for Insect Production and Processing, Faculty of Engineering Technology, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (M 2 S), KU Leuven Campus Geel, Kleinhoefstraat 4, 2440 Geel, Belgium
Adrian Covaci: Toxicological Centre, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
Mik Van Der Borght: Research Group for Insect Production and Processing, Faculty of Engineering Technology, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (M 2 S), KU Leuven Campus Geel, Kleinhoefstraat 4, 2440 Geel, Belgium

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: Due to the expansion in the global population, there is an increase in animal protein demand and waste generation. Currently, food waste derived from supermarkets, etc., which is used to produce biogas, is collected separately and can contain (micro)plastics deriving from food packaging, imposing potential risks to the environment. A possible solution to address protein, waste and plastic concerns can potentially be achieved by rearing black soldier fly (BSF) larvae on such substrates. In this study, we investigated the effect of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (micro)plastics on the growth, survival, and bioconversion of BSF larvae. On the other hand, the impact of the larvae on the polymer structure and degradation was also assessed. This was carried out by rearing BSF larvae on artificial food waste spiked with micro-, meso-, and macroplastics, while measuring larval growth, survival, and bioconversion parameters. The remaining plastics were collected and analysed upon changes and degradation of their polymer structure. Generally, BSF larvae were not affected in terms of growth performance (179.9–210.4 mg), survival (77.1–87.3%), and bioconversion (FCR: 4.65–5.53) by the presence of (micro)plastics in the substrates. Furthermore, the larvae were also unable to significantly alter the polymer structure of the used plastic.

Keywords: food waste; growth performance; feed conversion; bioconversion; waste reduction; polymer degradation; PVC; insect larvae (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12109/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12109/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:19:p:12109-:d:924517

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().