Entocycle Secures £100,000 Water Discovery Challenge Grant to Pioneer Insect-Powered Wastewater Treatment
London, UK - The Water Discovery Challenge has awarded £100,000 to Entocycle to develop Entoremediation, a nature-based circular economy solution utilising Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) to treat, clean and valorize wastewater output.
Named a finalist in the £7.5 million competition from Ofwat’s Water Innovation Fund, Entocycle aims to standardise a biological treatment process that dramatically reduces waste mass, eliminates hazardous contaminants and establishes a commercial model that transforms liabilities into revenue-generating resources.
Entocycle will leverage the voracious feeding capabilities of BSFL to achieve two major environmental and financial goals:
Target a potential 50% mass reduction on the 3.5 million tons of biosolids produced annually in the UK, enabling traditional agricultural land applications to continue safely without requiring energy-intensive heat treatments.
Target a 90% volume reduction of municipal wastewater screenings. By cleaning screenings to absolute sanitation standards, Entocycle aims to transition this material from a costly landfill/incineration liability to a compliant recycling stream, yielding up to £10 million in industry-wide annual landfill tax savings.
This innovative, nature-based solution directly addresses the threatening collapse of traditional agricultural sludge disposal routes, threatened by rising microplastics, PFAS and heavy metal contamination, while simultaneously tackling the high operational cost of landfilling municipal wastewater screenings.
By utilising rapid biological filtration, Entoremediation not only tackles high operational disposal costs, but also transforms hazardous waste into highly valuable, circular products. These include frass (a nutrient-rich fertiliser) and sustainable feedstocks for industrial bio-energy.
The Water Discovery Challenge is part of Ofwat’s Water Innovation Fund which is supporting a multitude of solutions that tackle the water sector’s greatest challenges across multiple competitions. The Water Discovery Challenge is dedicated to supporting the development of ideas from innovators across industries, particularly those new to the water sector.
As well as seed funding, as a finalist, Entocycle will be supported with seven months of mentorship to support commercialisation and expert guidance from water companies, to push solutions further and test the feasibility of the solutions in real-world settings at scale.
“We’re thrilled to be a finalist in the Water Discovery Challenge and to be trialling entoremediation at our UK Centre for Insect Technology in London Bridge. This grant will allow us to push our biological engineering to new heights and test our patented insect technology in ways we’ve not seen before, proving that nature-based solutions can simultaneously save the environment, eliminate hazardous contaminants and drive huge financial efficiencies for major industries.”
“With our rapidly changing climate, it is more vital, more than ever, that we double down on our efforts to create a water system able to support lives and livelihoods, including for future generations we will never meet. In opening our doors to innovators outside the water sector, we have invited fresh perspectives to tackle head-on some of our greatest challenges. With this line-up of finalist projects, we are reminded that tackling the climate and nature crises isn’t limited by intellect or creativity. The array of new ideas from new players is astounding. The challenge is getting these ideas delivering impact on the ground, with the sense of urgency these times need.”
In April 2027, as many as 10 of the 20 finalists will go on to win up to £550,000 each to further develop and test their ideas, and will be offered an additional five-month package of non-financial support and sector mentorship, to maximise the chance of the innovations launching and succeeding in the water sector.
The challenge is run by innovation prize experts Challenge Works, part of Nesta, in partnership with Arup and Isle Utilities, and is part of a series of competitions from the Water Innovation Fund.
The Water Innovation Fund is a key pillar in Ofwat’s mission to drive innovation that ensures the water sector is ready for the challenges of the future and results in better outcomes for customers and the environment.
To find out more about all twenty finalists, click HERE.
