Treatment of Agro-Industrial Residue and Organic Community Waste Using Black Soldier Fly Larvae: Overall Performance Assessment

The growing global population and rising organic waste generation necessitate innovative and sustainable waste management solutions. This study investigated the potential of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) as a bioconversion agent for agro-industrial and community organic waste, with an emphasis on optimizing substrate composition for enhanced treatment performance of BSFL. Six rearing substrates were formulated by mixing brewery waste, vegetable and fruit waste, food waste, and sugar filter cake in varying ratios. The performance of BSFL was assessed using five key performance indicators, and an overall performance score was derived to compare substrate suitability across three dimensions: biomass yield, waste reduction, and larval development time. The results revealed that BSFL survival exceeded 97% for all substrates. The highest waste reduction rate of 67.52% was achieved with a 50:50 mixture of brewery waste and food waste. This mixture also attained an overall performance score of 0.77 out of 1, classified as “good”. In contrast, sugar filter cake proved unsuitable for BSFL rearing due to its low nutritional value. These findings offer practical guidelines for selecting optimal waste mixtures to improve the efficiency of BSFL-based waste management.