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Genetically engineered insects could transform waste management

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01 Aug, 2024

This post was originally published on Sustainability Matters

A team from Macquarie University has explored the potential use of genetically modified black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens) to address worldwide pollution challenges and produce valuable raw materials for industry, including the US$500 billion global animal feed market.

While black soldier flies are currently used commercially to consume organic waste before being processed into animal feedstock, the Macquarie University bioscientists have devised genetic modifications that they say will expand the use of the insects, making them able to tackle a wider range of refuse. This could lead to the flies producing valuable industrial raw materials.

The team’s research has been published in the journal Communications Biology.

“One of the great challenges in developing circular economies is making high-value products that can be produced from waste,” said synthetic biologist Dr Kate Tepper, lead author of the paper and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Applied BioSciences, Macquarie University.

An estimated 40–70% of global organic waste finds its way to landfill.

“The landfilling of organic waste creates about 5% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions and we need to get this to 0%,” Tepper said.

Engineering insects to make industrial enzymes and lipids that are not used in food supply chains will expand the types of organic wastes that can be used, adding utility to lower-grade organic wastes.

“Insects will be the next frontier for synthetic biology applications, dealing with some of the huge waste-management challenges we haven’t been able to solve with microbes,” said senior author Dr Maciej Maselko, who heads an animal synthetic biology lab at Macquarie University’s Applied BioSciences.

Genetically engineered microbes require sterile environments to prevent contamination, along with lots of water and refined nutrient inputs. In contrast, “we can feed black soldier flies straight, dirty trash rather than sterilised or thoroughly pre-processed [trash]. When it is just chopped into smaller pieces, black soldier flies will consume large volumes of waste a lot faster than microbes,” Maselko said.

The researchers suggested that genetic engineering could piggyback on the existing infrastructure for large-scale black soldier fly farming, elevating the flies from simple waste processors to high-tech biomanufacturing platforms. Their paper calls for better genetic engineering tools for key insects.

“Physical containment is part of a series of protections. We are also developing additional layers of genetic containment so that any escapees can’t reproduce or survive in the wild,” Maselko said.

Commercialisation of black soldier fly biomanufacturing is already underway through a Macquarie University spin-out company, EntoZyme.

Tepper said that the introduction of genetically engineered insects has potential, not just in the multibillion-dollar waste management market, but also in the production of a range of high-value industrial inputs.

“When there is an economic incentive to implement sustainable technologies, such as engineering insects to get more value from waste products, that will help to drive this transition more rapidly,” she said.

Image credit: iStock.com/Andrew Waugh

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Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

Taking the electronic pulse of the circular economy

In June, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 E-Waste World, Battery Recycling, Metal Recycling, and ITAD & Circular Electronics Conference & Expo events in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track on a panel with global Circular Economy leaders from Foxway Group, ERI and HP, we explored the evolving role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and opportunities in the circular electronics economy.

The event’s focus on advancing circular economy goals and reducing environmental impact delivered a series of insights and learnings. From this assembly of international expertise across 75+ countries, here are some points from the presentations that stood out for me:

1. Environmental impact of the digital economy

Digitalisation has a heavy material footprint in the production phase, and lifecycle thinking needs to guide every product decision. Consider that 81% of the energy a laptop uses in its lifetime is consumed during manufacture (1 tonne in manufacture is equal to 10,000 tonnes of CO2) and laptops are typically refreshed or replaced by companies every 3–4 years.

From 2018 to 2023, the average number of devices and connections per capita in the world increased by 50% (2.4 to 3.6). In North America (8.2 to 13.4) and Western Europe (5.6 to 9.4), this almost doubled. In 1960, only 10 periodic table elements were used to make phones. In 1990, 27 elements were used and now over 60 elements are used to build the smartphones that we have become so reliant on.

A key challenge is that low-carbon and digital technologies largely compete for the same minerals. Material resource extraction could increase 60% between 2020 and 2060, while demand for lithium, cobalt and graphite is expected to rise by 500% until 2050.

High growth in ICT demand and Internet requires more attention to the environmental footprint of the digital economy. Energy consumption of data centres is expected to more than double by 2026. The electronics industry accounts for over 4% of global GHG — and digitalisation-related waste is growing, with skewed impacts on developing countries.

E-waste is rising five times faster than recycling — 1 tonne of e-waste has a carbon footprint of 2 tonnes. Today’s solution? ‘Bury it or burn it.’ In terms of spent emissions, waste and the costs associated with end-of-life liabilities, PCBAs (printed circuit board assembly) cost us enormously — they generally achieve 3–5% recyclability (75% of CO2 in PCBAs is from components).

2. Regulating circularity in electronics

There is good momentum across jurisdictions in right-to-repair, design and labelling regulations; recycling targets; and voluntary frameworks on circularity and eco-design.

The EU is at the forefront. EU legislation is lifting the ICT aftermarket, providing new opportunities for IT asset disposition (ITAD) businesses. To get a sense, the global market for electronics recycling is estimated to grow from $37 billion to $108 billion (2022–2030). The value of refurbished electronics is estimated to increase from $85.9 billion to $262.2 billion (2022–2032). Strikingly, 40% of companies do not have a formal ITAD strategy in place.

Significantly, the EU is rethinking its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management targets, aligned with upcoming circularity and WEEE legislation, as part of efforts to foster the circular economy. A more robust and realistic circularity-driven approach to setting collection targets would better reflect various factors including long lifespans of electronic products and market fluctuations.

Australia and New Zealand lag the EU’s comprehensive e-waste mandated frameworks. The lack of a systematic approach results in environmental degradation and missed positioning opportunities for businesses in the circular economy. While Australia’s Senate inquiry into waste reduction and recycling recommended legislating a full circular economy framework — including for imported and local product design, financial incentives and regulatory enforcement, New Zealand remains the only OECD country without a national scheme to manage e-waste.

3. Extending product lifecycles

Along with data security and digital tools, reuse was a key theme in the ITAD & Circular Electronics track of the conference. The sustainable tech company that I lead, Greenbox, recognises that reuse is the simplest circular strategy. Devices that are still functional undergo refurbishment and are reintroduced into the market, reducing new production need and conserving valuable resources.

Conference presenters highlighted how repair over replacement is being legislated as a right in jurisdictions around the world. Resources are saved, costs are lowered, product life is extended, and people and organisations are empowered to support a greener future. It was pointed out that just 43% of countries have recycling policies, 17% of global waste is formally recycled, and less than 1% of global e-waste is formally repaired and reused.

Right to repair is a rising wave in the circular economy, and legislation is one way that civil society is pushing back on programmed obsolescence. Its global momentum continues at different speeds for different product categories — from the recent EU mandates to multiple US state bills (and some laws) through to repair and reuse steps in India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Commission has done a scoping study to identify product groups under the Ecodesign framework that would be most relevant for implementing an EU-wide product reparability scoring system.

Attending this event with the entire electronic waste recycling supply chain — from peers and partners to suppliers and customers — underscored the importance of sharing best practices to address the environmental challenges that increased hardware proliferation and complex related issues are having on the world.

Ross Thompson is Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle management market leader Greenbox. With facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Greenbox Group provides customers all over the world a carbon-neutral supply chain for IT equipment to reduce their carbon footprint by actively managing their environmental, social and governance obligations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Mustafa Ovec

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