Affiliated with: DLX Design Lab University of Tokyo, 2024

Role: Design research, Systems thinking, Prototyping seperation mechanism

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Revolutionising Japan’s agricultural industry by replacing food waste bins with black soldier fly-powered composters.

We developed and began testing a full-scale prototype using cutting-edge fly research from the university’s entomology lab to generate useful compost and fertilisers. The project has seen strong interest from various grant calls in a country which imports almost 95% of their fertilisers.

Black soldier flies (BSFs) have been proven to effectively convert large quantities of food waste to compost, while having other benefits such as removing toxic chemicals and reducing odors.

We made a prototype which self-sustains the whole life cycle of the BSF and replaces a bin. Restaurant staff would put food waste in one side, and receive compost from the other.

I designed and built the ventilation system and the separator, which is a box with a fine mesh that vibrates to separate the useful compost (excrement) from the larvae and food waste.

I tested various spring configurations to allow ample movement while minimising the vibration (and consequent sound) of the whole system.

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