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Depok uses maggots to decompose waste
The larvae of the black soldier fly are being used by the administration to treat organic waste at the Merdeka 2 waste bank (UPS) in Sukmajaya.
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The Merdeka 2 waste bank in Sukmajaya, Depok, West Java on Feb. 20. (kompas.com/Cynthia Lova)
F
or most people maggots are repulsive creatures but Depok city administration in West Java has successfully turned them into an economically beneficial commodity.
The larvae of the black soldier fly are being used by the administration to consume organic waste at the Merdeka 2 waste bank (UPS) in Sukmajaya.
The unit head Heriyanto explained that his team had distributed baskets to several households in Depok into which the residents separate organic waste to be fed to the maggots.
“We have asked several households in Depok to separate their own waste,” he said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Residents who have separated their waste and supplied it to the waste bank are eligible for free fertilizer produced by the maggots from eating the treated organic waste.
The fertilizer is of a high quality and can be sold, Heriyanto added.
He explained that the maggots were able to decompose several tons of organic waste in a week or two.
The maggots can then be used as fish or poultry feed. Fluid extracted from them can also be used as a natural pesticide, Heriyanto said. (sau)
