As the household connection rate for the sewerage system continues to rise, the amount of waste sludge generated by water resource recovery centers has increased year by year, making sludge treatment and disposal an important issue in advancing environmental sustainability. Since 2022, the Water Resources Bureau of Taichung City Government has introduced black soldier fly biological treatment technology and applied the concepts of low carbon processing, volume reduction, and resource circulation to the sludge treatment process, putting the 2050 net zero emissions policy goal into practice and demonstrating the city government’s concrete actions in promoting sustainable governance
Director Shih-Yi Fan of the Water Resources Bureau explained that in the past, waste sludge was mostly treated through incineration or landfill disposal, which not only involved high treatment costs but also created environmental burdens such as energy consumption and carbon emissions. The city government collaborated with a research team from National Taiwan University and used the biological characteristics of black soldier fly larvae to decompose organic matter, carrying out biological sludge treatment through an automated system. The technology has also been introduced at water resource recovery centers for long term operational verification as an innovative demonstration of low carbon sludge treatment.
The Water Resources Bureau further noted that actual operating results show that black soldier fly biological treatment technology can effectively reduce the weight of waste sludge by about 40 percent. It also offers advantages such as low energy consumption and onsite treatment at wastewater treatment plants. In addition to reducing the need to transport sludge offsite, it also lowers the environmental impact of traditional high energy treatment methods, demonstrating its potential as an alternative sludge treatment technology.
The Water Resources Bureau added that it has completed a carbon footprint inventory for the treatment process in accordance with international standards, and the product carbon footprint has passed third party verification under ISO 14067. The evaluation results show that, compared with conventional sludge treatment methods, the black soldier fly biological treatment system delivers significant carbon reduction benefits across the overall life cycle, and the treated output can be further developed for high value reuse, such as biofuels and solid fuel briquettes, achieving volume reduction, carbon reduction, and energy recovery, and providing a feasible approach for the city’s transition toward net zero.
(12/30*10)*Water Resources Bureau, Taichung City Government
Contact person: Water Resource Bureau, Taichung City Government
Contact number: 04-22289111