Prioritise regenerative resources, Use waste as resource, Rethink the business model
8Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
12Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
In Ghana, a total of 2,620 tonnes of blood, intestinal contents and waste tissues from abattoirs are discharged into the environment – including watercourses and landfills – annually. Abattoir waste causes land and air pollution, releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. On the other hand, abattoir waste is a resource that can be processed using natural methods to produce maggots – a cheap protein feed that can be used as a replacement for soya and fish.
In 2014, Lincoln Peedah started a meat processing company, Neat Meats. Their slaughterhouse generated large quantities of waste, and so they decided to close the loop by using the waste to produce cost-effective feed for farmers. They first experimented by leaving abattoir waste for three days.
Maggots grew in it and chickens started feeding on them. From there Lincoln established Neat Eco-Feeds as a sister company to their meat house.
Neat Eco-Feeds converts organic waste to high-protein feed for fish and poultry, with the help of black soldier fly larvae. The company was established to convert abattoir waste generated by Neat Meat. Currently, Neat Eco-Feeds does not use waste from Neat Meat’s abattoir alone but also waste from local breweries, granaries (sorghum, millet, maize), and porridge vendors, as well as rice bran and sawdust.
Neat Eco-Feeds raises and collects the eggs of black soldier fly in an insectarium. The black soldier flies and their larvae feed on the waste collected, and the maggots can also be used as animal feed. Their feed production is zero-waste because the by- product is used as a compost for crop farms.
Customer surveys of farmers also indicate that their feed has the interesting benefit of reducing poultry mortality. Neat Eco-Feeds has received awards from the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre and was a winner in the 2019 UNDP Waste Recovery Innovation Challenge.