Fermenting fish in a barrel: it's less smelly than you may think.

These tiny soldiers can eat four times their own weight in organic waste – and turn it into sustainable fertiliser.

Read the full story from the BBC. With a unique ability to consume nearly any form of organic matter it comes across, one small but mighty insect is becoming a tool to address the growing problem of organic waste and soil degradation. The bug, black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), transforms food waste into nutrient-rich biofertiliser: frass.

The UK startup’s BioNomad system turns farm waste into biogas and biofertiliser, helping smaller farms cut methane emissions, energy costs, and reliance on chemical fertilisers.

NetZeroNitrogen (NZN), a Nottingham-based AgTech company on a mission to end reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers (SNFs), has raised a €5.6 million Seed round to make key hires in ASEAN markets, pass certification, and finalise commercial offtake and biomanufacturing agreements. The round was co-led by World Fund, Europe’s leading climate VC, and Azolla Ventures, a US ClimateTech VC investing in companies with the potential for gigaton-scale climate impact. The round brings NZN’s total funding to date to €7 million, including investment from existing backers Zero Carbon Capital, Revent and Kibo Invest, in addition to early support from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

These tiny soldiers can eat four times their own weight in organic waste – and turn it into sustainable fertiliser.

UCL Discovery is UCL's open access repository, showcasing and providing access to UCL research outputs from all UCL disciplines.

Key points: Anaerobic digestion is increasingly being used to recycle organic by-products to produce renewable energy and nutrient-rich biofertiliser around the world, making a dual contribution to emission reductions and soil health. Australia lacks tailored digestate regulations, limiting its use as a biofertiliser and creating uncertainty for investors and farmers. This project will map and

Meet the black soldier fly larvae, a tiny waste-eating bug that creates a fantastic organic fertilizer that can improve soil health.

NetZeroNitrogen (NZN), a Nottingham-based AgTech company on a mission to end reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers (SNFs), has raised a €5.6 million Seed round to make key hires in ASEAN markets, pass certification, and finalise commercial offtake and biomanufacturing agreements. The round was co-led by World Fund, Europe’s leading climate VC, and Azolla Ventures, a US ClimateTech VC investing in companies with the potential for gigaton-scale climate impact. The round brings NZN’s total funding to date to €7 million, including investment from existing backers Zero Carbon Capital, Revent and Kibo Invest, in addition to early support from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.