Waste management service is inefficient in peri-urban and rural areas where biowaste is a major component of the household waste produced. Biowaste recycling using black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) at source can reduce the burden on the authorities and add economic value to a yet underutilized resource. This study evaluated the practicability of BSFL bin use at the household level to handle kitchen biowaste by placing three bins per house after 15 days interval of larval feeding. It was found that 50% of the households contacted cooperated well to continue the experiment. A set of instructions for handling BSFL bins based on reasons of agreement and disagreement was developed and shared. Key parameters to evaluate waste treatment performance and larval development were waste dry matter weight reduction (89.66%, SD 6.77%), volumetric reduction (81.3%, SD 4.8), final prepupal dry weight (69 mg/larvae, SD 7.1), biomass conversion rate (12.9%, SD 1.7), metabolism (77.3%, SD 6.0) and residue (10.4%, SD 6.8). On average, 87.7% (SD 9.1) of waste was actually digested, with 16.6% (SD 2.2) efficiently converted into biomass. Initial moisture content of waste was found to be more significant for achieving greater waste dry weight reduction as compared with the feeding rate. Source separation of biowaste and cooperation between households and authorities may lead to successful implementation of BSFL-assisted biowaste bins.

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Azo and reactive dyes are mostly used in various industries like textile, leather, paper, food, plastic, and printing of color products [1-3]. Dyes are toxic for humans as well as the environment, and must be treated before their discharge to reduce environmental pollution [4]. Several methods for removing dyes include membrane filtration [5], coagulation/flocculation [6], advanced oxidation [7], and phyto-catalytic degradation [8]. Biodegradation of dyes is difficult because of their stable and complex chemical structure. Therefore, the adsorption process has been adopted for removal of dyes due to its simplicity, flexibility, ease of operation, and cost effectiveness [9]. Various adsorbents have been utilized for dye removal, such as alumina, rice husk, banana peels, orange peels, coconut shells, peanut shells, and various clays, etc. [10]. Among these, carbon-based materials are more efficient adsorbents, comprising large numbers of pores and high surface area for adsorption of dyes, but due to their high preparation cost they can't be used

The availability and continuous supply of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) is crucial for efficient operation of a BSF biowaste recycling facility. Its rearing performance was for the first time investigated in Pakistan under outdoor ambient weather conditions. Comparison of the findings with the BSF rearing performance of Indonesia’s facility highlights the life stages needing special attention. In Pakistan, mean BSF emergence, hatching and survival rate of 58.8% (SD 15.2), 44.5% (SD 21.8) and 91.4% (SD 1.68) were achieved respectively. A positive significant correlation was found between the number of emerged flies and prepupae ( R = 0.75) and the number of eggs produced and hatched ( R = 0.92). On average, BSF took 49.5 days (SD 3.20) to complete one life cycle (LC) under ambient temperature and relative humidity (RH) between (22–35 °C) and (24.7–89.3%) respectively. The mean duration of eclosion, pre-oviposition, egg hatching, larval feeding and pupation was 15.6 days (SD 1.6), 3.5 days (SD 0.5), 3 days (SD 0.6), 22 days (SD 2.5), 3.8 days (SD 1.2) respectively. In Pakistan, the LC duration was longer with a smaller number of eggs/fly, lower BSF emergence and hatching rates as compared to Indonesia. BSF tolerated the semiarid weather conditions of Pakistan, successfully developed into all instars and completed all LCs under observation. It is suggested to provide controlled environmental conditions at the nursery stage to improve BSFL rearing performance for sustainable biowaste management.

The use of fresh water in the textile wash-off process is becoming more expensive day by day due to declining water levels in the region. In this study, the potential of using Fenton oxidation in wash-off cotton reactive dyeing was investigated. The spent wash-off wastewater from one dyeing was first treated with Fenton oxidation, and then reused in several washing-offs employing widely used reactive dyes, C.I. Reactive Yellow 145, C.I. Reactive Blue 21, and C.I. Reactive Red 195. Experimental results showed that at acidic pH (3) using optimized quantities of FeSO4 and H2O2, Fenton process yielded a significant reduction (90–95%) of color in 30 minutes of treatment time. New washing-offs were then carried out in Fenton decolorized wash-off wastewater, and dyed cotton fabric samples were subjected to quality evaluations in terms of color difference properties (ΔL*, Δc*,Δb*, Δa*, ΔE*cmc) and wash fastness properties. This study concluded that after Fenton oxidation, treated liquor can be effectively reused subsequent washing-offs without compromising fabric quality parameters as ΔE*cmc was less than 1, and washing and crocking was also in the range of 4.5–5 which is commercially acceptable. Moreover, the difference in color strength in terms of k/s was also negligible.