Assessing the Environmental Impacts of the Black Soldier Fly-Based Circular Economy and Decentralized System in Singapore: A Case Study

Remondah R. Ramzy (), Vartika Goenka, Marco A. El-Dakar and Janice Ser Huay Lee ()
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Remondah R. Ramzy: Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637459, Singapore
Vartika Goenka: Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637459, Singapore
Marco A. El-Dakar: Clean Combustion Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Janice Ser Huay Lee: Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637459, Singapore

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-19

Abstract: Food waste management is a major global issue, and alternative protein sources like insect farming offer a sustainable solution. This study investigated the environmental impacts of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) production using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), evaluating its role in both protein production and food waste treatment. The assessment considered three functional units: FU 1 (1 kg of dried larvae), FU 2 (per kg of protein), and FU 3 (treatment of 1 ton of food waste). The results indicate that larvae rearing is the largest contributor to emissions in FU 1 (46% of 18.51 kg CO 2 eq). In FU 2 , BSFL protein shows a higher climate impact (49.41 kg CO 2 eq) than fishmeal or soybean meal but requires significantly less land. FU 3 demonstrates that BSFL-based composting can achieve net negative emissions (~−24.8 kg CO 2 eq), outperforming conventional waste treatment. An optimized scenario (Scenario A) shows marked improvements across all units compared to a Business-as-Usual case, including a 79% reduction in FU 1 emissions and a 577% increase in FU 3 carbon savings. These findings underline the environmental advantages of BSFL systems, especially in Singapore, and support their potential as sustainable alternatives for protein production and food waste management.

Keywords: circular economy; decentralized systems; food waste recycling; climate change mitigation; black soldier fly (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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