Colombia has discovered an effective solution to a waste accumulation problem in Boyaca department: beetle larvae. German Viasus, an environmental and sanitary engineer, has been using the beetle larvae to eliminate waste as part of a project designed to tackle pollution.
The beetle larvae feed for 16 hours a day on the organic waste produced by the thousands of people living in the region. During their first four months of life, these white larvae – which can grow up to 17 centimeters long – are spread over tons of egg shells, fruit scraps, and decomposing vegetables.
Viasus, 53, operates a large landfill and business in Tunja, the capital of Boyaca. He also sells the larvae’s excrement as a natural fertilizer to farmers in the region, encouraging them to abandon chemical fertilizers. “Beetles have the answer to waste management,” Viasus told AFP.
In Tunja, a single landfill receives waste from 130 municipalities across the country. In recent years, there have been clashes between local residents and the company responsible for waste collection due to alleged mismanagement.
Excavators in most of the landfills bury all the leftovers, which could pose a health risk. “If we don’t take prompt action within each municipality, we won’t be able to continue sending waste to the landfill when it reaches the end of its useful life,” said Soraida Ruiz, Boyaca’s Environment Secretary.
Colombian engineer uses beetle larvae to control waste buildup
Viasus has now proposed an alternative with his valuable beetles. Every week, he receives 15 tons of waste by truck from the neighboring municipalities of Soraca, Jenesano, Arcabuco, and Samaca, which together have a population of about 40,000 people.
His employees stack the waste in small mounds, under which the larvae feed. The bad smell disappears when everything is covered with the same fertilizer. Additionally, other larvae swim in tanks filled with leachate, a liquid that forms from the decomposition of products and that can be lethal to the ecosystem, which they neutralize.
Viasus stumbled upon the beetles by chance in 2000. He had failed in a similar project with earthworms but discovered the larvae in a sack of waste. Today, he has dozens of rhinoceros beetles, all of which are descendants of those original larvae. “We must preserve the beetles because they are responsible for breaking down all the organic waste produced by humanity,” he says.
After at least four months of work as larvae, the beetles undergo metamorphosis and acquire their hard shells, before typically dying at nine months. The beetles belong to the Dynastes Hercules species, characterized by a brownish abdomen; Dynastes neptunus, which are slightly larger; and Megasoma Elephas, known for their prominent horn. All are native to the tropical ecosystems of Central and South America.
Related: Plastic-Eating Worms Discovered in Africa Offer New Hope for Waste Management
Beetle project goes international with new cryptocurrency
Viasus’s project has already extended beyond Boyaca, and even Colombia. Before they die, Viasus legally sells some of his beetles to countries including Germany, Canada, France and the United States. He has a particularly large market in Japan, where the beetles are given to children as pets. The engineer is able to sell the beetles thanks to a trading system he created using cryptocurrency.
To avoid high bank fees for foreign payments – in yen, euros, and dollars – Viasus and young entrepreneur Carmelo Campos created a cryptocurrency called Kmushicoin. The name is a combination of “Kabutomushi,” which means horned beetle in Japanese, and bitcoin.
The idea was “to avoid bureaucracy and high fees… that’s why Kmushicoin was created, to make it much more instant and direct,” says Campos, who began creating digital currency in 2019 at the age of 15. In cities like Tunja, Bogota, and Medellin, a handful of local businesses already accept the cryptocurrency.
Related: Colombian Scientists Develop Method to Protect Bees from Pesticides