St. Petersburg to launch pilot larvae-based organic waste recycling line

In St. Petersburg, organic waste may soon be recycled on an industrial scale using larvae, Kirill Soloveichik, head of the committee on environmental management, announced at a TASS press conference on January 22.

He said: «There was a project submitted to the Center for Environmental Innovations for recycling food waste with various larvae. A Korean company even managed to create such industrial equipment. Now, the discussion is about trying to install a pilot line at the sorting complex in the first quarter and demonstrate the efficiency of this equipment.»

Such methods of organic recycling are already known on a smaller scale. For example, some residents practice vermicomposting at home with compost worms, and in St. Petersburg, there are vermi-farms.

Currently, at the complexes of the Nevsky Environmental Operator, waste is used to produce technogenic soil, which has limited applications. Recycling with larvae could become a more effective alternative.

The equipment supplier proposed that the city conclude an offset contract. Soloveichik noted: «Thank you to colleagues, they have already written a letter to me requesting to analyze the volumes and enter into an offset contract with the city regarding the recycling of food waste, where the product will essentially be organic fertilizer and biohumus that we could use for landscaping. We have started this work now.»

Earlier, plans were reported for creating ecotechnoparks at waste sorting and disposal complexes in St. Petersburg.