Most people are inclined to shoo flies away from food, and the thought of maggots in your bins is enough to make anyone’s stomach turn.

But a handful of city councils have embraced maggots - more formally known as fly larvae - and their taste for rotting food.

In Vilnius, capital of the Baltic state of Lithuania, fly larvae have officially been given the job of processing the 2,700 tonnes of food waste the city’s 607,000 residents put out for collection each year, alongside that of the six neighbouring councils.

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The current alternative for sending food waste to landfill is anaerobic digestion (AD), a breakdown process which creates biogas.

However, Mr Kotch says current AD plants aren’t enough to cope with the anticipated influx of household food waste.

“Globally, over 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year. We believe up to 40% of that could be upcycled using insect waste management. And not only does it avoid disposal costs and methane emissions, but it also produces valuable protein and organic fertiliser,” says Mr Kotch.