Biodegradation by composting of municipal organic solid waste into organic fertilizer using the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) larvae

International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture https://doi.org/10.1007/s40093-019-0268-4 ORIGINAL RESEARCH Biodegradation by composting of municipal organic solid waste into organic fertilizer using the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) larvae D. Sarpong1 · S. Oduro‑Kwarteng1 · S. F. Gyasi2 · R. Buamah1 · E. Donkor1 · E. Awuah1 · M. K. Baah3 Received: 16 April 2018 / Accepted: 16 April 2019 © The Author(s) 2019 Abstract Purpose The objectives of this study were to assess the black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) composting potential and to analyse the quality of organic fertilizer produced for agricultural purposes. Methods The waste biodegradation was determined by varying waste feed treatment (2, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, to 4 kg) and control treatment of (2 kg) of heterogeneous mixture of municipal organic solid waste from market, restaurant and households. Each of the setups received equal number of viable larvae (i.e. 2000) which were 5–6 days old. To analyse the nutrient concentration of the compost residues with BSFL, the substrate and final compost were evaluated based on the levels of NPK as well as the C:N ratio. To evaluate the toxic levels of the final compost in terms of heavy metals, the presence and levels of As, Cd, Fe, Pb and Ni were investigated. Results The analysis showed that there was high percentage increase of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium levels, i.e. 41.2% (SD ± 0.71%), 32.4% (SE ± 0.2%) and 77.1% (SE ± 0.19%), respectively. It was found that the larvae degraded more than half of the total substrate within 2 weeks. The study showed a decrease in heavy metal concentrations after larvae composting. Conclusion The study revealed that the concentration of NPK increased significantly among the treatment groups. The study further revealed that some of the heavy metals under investigation had reduced to an acceptable level according to the standards of both local and international regulatory bodies. Keywords Municipal organic solid waste · Biodegradation · Black soldier fly larvae · Organic fertilizer and heavy metal Introduction Municipal solid waste management is an issue of great concern to especially urban governance because of solid waste effects on the environmental health most especially in the developing countries (UN-HABITAT 2010). This is due to inadequate infrastructure and technical inefficiencies. The impact on poor environmental sanitation and solid waste in the cities and towns could threaten nation’s development (Sarkar and Chourasia 2017). In the year 2016, about 50% * D. Sarpong 1 Department of Civil Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana 2 Department of Basic and Applied Biology, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana 3 AMP Logistics, Tema, Ghana of the world population lived in cities and generate more than 3 million metric tons of waste (including, household items, food waste, and packaging) on a daily basis. By the year 2025, this number will double (Hoornweg and BhadaTata 2012). A report by FAO estimated that 1.6 billion tons of food waste were generated worldwide in 2007 and that accounted for about one-third of the global food production. This waste occurred at all stages from production to consumption. In addition, improper disposal of solid waste takes up space in landfills. This eventually contributes to the spread of disease, and the production of noxious odour (Hoornweg and BhadaTata 2012). It is also reported that food waste is the number three contributor of global carbon dioxide production and produces more than double the carbon dioxide produced by all ground transportation in the United States of America. In the year 2012, globally, solid waste management costs approximately $205.4 billion and it is expected to increase to about $375.5 billion in 2025 (Hoornweg and Bhada-Tata 13 Vol.:(0123456789) International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture 2012). In the cities and towns, uncollected solid waste contributes to flooding, air pollutions, and public health impact such as respiratory ailment, diarrhoea, and dengue fever (Barry 2004). There are several naturally occurring microorganisms that can convert organic waste into valuable resources such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are useful to plants. A typical example is the use of worms to degrade waste. Vermicomposting is an aerobic process of organic waste degradation and stabilization by interaction of microorganisms and earthworms under controlled conditions (Dominguez and Edwards 2011).Vermicomposting is not known to be a widespread approach to urban waste management in low- and middle-income countries (Diener et al. 2011). The expected barriers to vermicomposting are the large space requirement, poor supporting policies and measures from government and low revenue to sustain its operation (Mainoo 2007; Dominguez and Edwards 2011). For several years, researchers globally have proposed using the larvae of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) as a potential means to degrade organic matter such as food waste to divert the materials away from the limited landfills (Diener et al. 2011; Gabler and Vinnerås 2014). The black soldier fly (BSF) is a wasplike fly distributed over the tropical and temperate regions of the world (Sarpong et al. 2018). The insect is native to America but through human-mediated dispersal, now they are found almost all over the world (Rana 2014; Tomberlin et al. 2002; Sarpong et al. 2018). The uniqueness of the insect, black soldier fly, is their ability to successfully colonize a wide variety of resources ranging from swine manure (Alvarez 2012), animal remains (Wang and Shelomi 2017). It has been reported that the BSF larvae are capable of degrading human faeces (Lalander et al. 2013; Banks et al. 2014) and animal faeces (Charlton et al. 2015). Past researchers have established that many insects could be selective with regard to what and how much waste they can consume (Cammack and Tomberlin 2017). The aforementioned studies used either homogeneous agricultural, livestock manure or human faeces and vegetable waste as feedstock. Black soldier fly larvae application to treat unshredded feeding sources of municipal organic solid waste is yet to be fully understood and proven. In addition, limited literature exists on the use of black soldier fly larva’s ability to remove heavy metals from heterogeneous organic fraction of municipal organic solid waste (OFMSW) to be considered as safe organic compost. Once these facts are well established, organic waste from municipalities could be manipulated to optimize waste reduction and composting materials into valuable products. In view of the above, the objectives of the study are to (1) investigate the decomposition efficiency of the black soldier 13 fly larvae on heterogeneous mixture of municipal organic solid waste, (2) assess the (...truncated)