Greek-owned startup Better Origin turns fruit and vegetable waste into animal feed for pets (dogs, cats), chickens and fish. The key to this process is worms, known as black soldier flies, which consume the waste and convert it into protein and fat.
Plastics or cosmetics made from espresso coffee grounds, a plastic substitute from banana peels, yogurt packaging or even pizza boxes, animal feed with protein from worms that feed on fruit, vegetable and even beer waste: These are some Greek-origin green ideas that attempt to utilize tons of waste food or plastic, reintroducing products made with strange ingredients to the market.
“We have customers who make feed with the main protein, the protein from the insects that we produce,” Fotis Fotiadis, co-founder and CEO of Better Origin, tells Kathimerini.
The company, through its own unit, turns fruit and vegetable waste into feed for pets, chicken and fish. Key to this process is worms, known as black soldier flies, which consume the waste and convert it into protein and fat. “Whereas we used to feed the worm to the hens, now we process it, produce protein and fat in another form, and supply it to feed companies,” he adds.
As he explains, about a third of the food produced worldwide is wasted, which is why it is considered necessary to utilize the amount of waste thrown away, not only for producing, for example, fertilizers, but also food.
The company blends food waste from supermarkets with beer waste, specifically yeast. “It has a high percentage of protein and helps the effectiveness of the mix,” Fotiadis says.
The startup has begun seeking funding as it builds a multi-capacity plant in England that will turn 30,000 tons of waste a year into protein.
In the battle for the reuse of organic materials, startups are fighting to stop the misuse of plastic. “There is a trend in Europe to use organic raw materials in the packaging industry. Those that were previously waste – e.g. coffee grounds, wood, paper etc,” Alexis Panziaros, chemical engineer and co-founder of the startup company Coffeeco, which develops a plastic substitute from leftover espresso coffee, recycling bins, packaging and even cosmetics, tells Kathimerini.
Recently, it signed a collaboration with Plastika Kritis for developing a new plastic raw material, made of polypropylene and coffee residues. This blend consists of 15% coffee resulting in a reduction in petrochemical usage.
