ABSTRACT
Currently, there was an urge for a new way of waste management that was a more sustainable and smaller footprint. For this purpose cafeteria at UNIT had been chosen as a model to study the method, namely, grub composting by using Hermetia illucens or black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) to convert food waste (FW) into compost and animal feed in a biowaste composter. This study involved an FW collection and grub composting experiment that last for two months. The composting was performed in biocomposter initiated by the ovipositing BSFL came from natural surroundings. It was found that approximately 700, 1000 and 1198 larvae harvested from different amount of waste for the first batch (800 g), second batch (1000 g) and third batch (2000 g), respectively. The findings revealed that the highest reduction rate of FW (g/day×larvae) was achieved by protein substrate with the addition of booster with the reading of 0.025 g/day×larvae. The addition of booster to the FW degraded by H. illucens encourages its reduction rate. Bio-composter proves to be a successful model in managing FW with the help of ecological engineered BSFL within the UNIT area.
