Webinar review: Insects in the circular economy

Opportunities and applications – insects for a circular future

The two Interreg projects Agropole Innovates and Realise-Bio are dedicated to strengthening German-Dutch cooperation and promoting innovation in (among others) the agricultural sector. As both projects also deal with the emerging topic of using insects for protein production in agriculture, this provided an opportunity to organise a joint online event and invite participants via both networks. First, there was a brief overview of the two projects, before three experts presented different perspectives on the use of insects in the circular economy.

Bob Holtermans from InsectEngineers & InsectSchool presented the diverse applications of the black soldier fly. In addition to the developmental stages, times and products obtained from insects (protein meal, oil and feed), the potential for feeding was also discussed. This insect species can be fed almost anything and can also convert waste into valuable protein and feed. It became clear that regulatory hurdles in Europe in particular are limiting the use of many suitable food residues as animal feed. InsectEngineers is active in projects worldwide, including in Kenya, Chile, England, Abu Dhabi, Turkey, Spain and the USA, and is testing different feeding options for efficient insect production.

Jan-Christoph Morisse from FarmInsect reported on how the company has grown from a small start-up to its current size over the past six years and spoke about the challenges along the way. The company produces equipment for breeding black soldier flies and supports farms in their production. While insect meal is now increasingly being used as a substitute for fish meal, insect feed is currently finding even better buyers – for example, as fertiliser or for biogas plants. FarmInsect is recording growing production volumes: in 2025, 2 tonnes of feed were produced, double that amount is planned for 2026, and 11 tonnes are forecast for 2027. The company is breaking new ground with a project in Dubai, where meal is mixed with sand to make soil in desert regions fertile.

Prof. Florian Wichern from Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences presented findings from the Benefits of Frass research project. This project examines the frass of various insect species, feedstuffs and feed qualities in order to assess its suitability as fertiliser. The frass of the black soldier fly proved to be particularly promising, as its nutrients are often more usable for plants than those of other species. At the same time, germination experiments highlighted the differences in gaseous emissions between different types of frass: while some types of frass prevented germination (cricket frass), others had no effect (black soldier fly).

The event made it clear that insects offer a wide range of opportunities for the circular economy, sustainable food systems and agricultural innovation – but still require research, practical knowledge and appropriate regulatory frameworks.

Author: Lena Manten, Agrobusiness Niederrhein e.V.