The federal government is giving $6 million to a Quebec company that uses black soldier flies to speed up composting.
Entosystem Inc. is building a facility at Drummondville that will use flies to make livestock feed out of food waste and compost materials.
"The use of insects to speed up the process of composting food waste is a promising solution for the environment," said federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.
"By recovering products intended for landfill, Entosystem creates value-added products, generates a zero-waste circular economy and contributes to the achievement of our climate targets.
“The government of Canada's investment in the company's new facilities will allow it to increase its production of alternative proteins for animal feed and fertilisers, which are essential inputs for the agricultural industry."
At its new facility, Entosystem expects to transform 250 tonnes of organic waste daily by 2024 (compared to its current rate of six tonnes per day) and create close to 70 new full-time positions. Ultimately, this investment will enable the company to reduce food waste, use of landfills and greenhouse gas emissions through the diversion of organic waste.
Every year, over half of Canada's food supply is wasted, and nearly $50 billion of that wasted food is avoidable, the government news release said.
