Balancing profit with purpose: How firms create sustainable ecosystems in maritime and food waste industries, Emerging Enterprise

LLR operates a unique business straddling food sellers and food producers. Restaurants and food catering companies buy or lease its proprietary WasteMaster machine, which uses reactive oxygen technology to treat mixed food waste on-site. 

This reduces the weight of the waste by up to 80 per cent, while retaining nutritional value and eliminating harmful pathogens. This leads to less frequent collection, more efficient processing and fewer problems with pests and smells. 

The treated waste is then collected by Life Lab Resources and processed in a biorefinery plant, where it is converted into microbial protein. This microbial protein is then pelletised into feed for fish or livestock and sold to local farms, which sell its produce back to restaurants and food caterers. 

Because of its ability to treat mixed food waste, Life Lab Resources’ business model has a high potential to scale across all sectors of the food industry. As the company grows, its successful model can help transform the food and beverage (F&B) industry to turn waste products into valuable feedstock. 

“By closing the loop on food production, consumption and waste, we can create a truly circular economy – right here in Singapore,” says Edward Chia, managing director of Life Lab Resources. 

Connecting the dots in your food ecosystem

Life Lab Resources is not just a technology provider but is deeply embedded within the food and agriculture industry as a connector. It negotiates prices and supply between food sellers and food producers to make the circular economy work. 

Chia, who was the co-founder of entertainment and F&B joint Timbre Group, reflects that a circular economy is unlike a traditional business. “When I used to run Timbre, we buy beer and sell beer; we don’t have to deal with people elsewhere. To run a circular economy, compared to a linear style economy, it’s important to get alignment from different stakeholders in the circle.”

These industry-alignment efforts have positioned Life Lab Resources as not just a “green” company but a catalyst for change in the F&B sector. 

Life Lab Resources works with restaurants from well-known hotels like Marina Bay Sands (MBS), Swissotel the Stamford and Fairmont Singapore. “They have a real motivation to be a good corporate citizen, and they are looking for solutions,” says Chia. “We present ourselves to be the better solution for food waste.” 

As for the other side of the equation, Life Lab Resources has supported local agriculture firms like Metro Farm. “We help them in three ways. We provide them with a more sustainable feed source, so there’s less need for fish meal or plant meals. This reduces the degradation of bio-diversity. We hopefully provide them with a better price, since a major cost for them is feed. We also link them directly to our end-clients, helping them aggregate demand so they have consistent offtake for their produce.”