RWTH Start-Up Turns Waste into Sustainable Animal Feed

Soy and fishmeal are used in livestock farming as inexpensive feed, but this takes place at the expense of both the climate and the environment. The use of insect larvae as feed conserves resources and it is therefore a suitable alternative. The young start-up Omnivore Recycling is specialized in building recycling plants to bring agricultural by-products and industrial food waste back into the nutrient cycle on site, which reduces the costs of producing insect proteins.

Founder Marius Wenning completed his master's degree at RWTH Aachen University. After graduating, he worked as a research associate at the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) and at the Chair of Production Systems in the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL). In his spare time, Wenning worked intensively on developing alternative protein sources. After some time, he realized that the main reason why sustainable technologies for the production of alternative protein sources were not spreading was the high cost associated with them. This is also the case for insect proteins. Marius Wenning was particularly fascinated by the biotechnological usability of the black soldier fly, the larvae of which are well suited for use as animal feed due to their high protein and fat content. The larvae are able to convert a wide range of organic waste into high-quality protein. This means that they can be used in place of soy and fishmeal, which are environmentally harmful feedstuffs. The residues of the larvae can in turn be used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. However, insect protein is still too expensive in Europe and is therefore not competitive.

Cutting Costs Thanks to Production Technology

Due to his knowledge in the field of production systems, Wenning realized that the change in production technology makes a decisive difference to the process of obtaining alternative feed. He decided to reduce the cost of insect proteins by using innovative production technology to make this sustainable solution suitable for mass production. This is how the idea for Omnivore Recycling came about.

The use of decentralized recycling plants will close the organic material cycle and return industrial food waste to the nutrient cycle. In the facilities, food waste is fed to insect larvae. The recycling facility can recover nutrients from food waste that is generated by small and medium-sized food manufacturing and agricultural businesses. The sustainably produced insect larvae can replace soy and fish meal as animal feed and they can be used as a sustainable feed for chickens, pigs, and fish.

Thanks to the innovative design and the intelligent control software, the process is fully automated despite low investment costs and it is monitored and controlled in a decentralized manner.

Support from the RWTH start-up programs

Prior to the company’s inception, the founding team took advantage of various university support programs and its members participated in both the Ideation Program and the RWTH Innovation Incubation Program. They were also selected for the RWTH Innovation Sprint and this led to them being able to successfully develop their first prototype. The invention was supported by the German Federal Environmental Foundation and the state government's Green Start-ups program. In 2022, the team received the RWTH Spin-off Award; this is the only official award that recognizes outstanding spin-offs from the University.

Opportunities for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa

The team is now operating two pilot facilities. The automation concepts and processes are being further developed at the pilot facility in Aachen. The pilot facility in Kenya demonstrates the potential for African countries. Leftovers from avocado oil production are being recycled here, which saves 1,000 tons of CO₂ equivalents every year. Local smallholders benefit from affordable feed and fertilizer. A further plant in Serbia is currently being planned. In the future, the existing facilities are to be expanded upon and additional sites will be commissioned in order to make efficient food waste recycling available everywhere.

– Authors: Kirsa Dannenberg, Marius Wenning