Three greentech startups are aiming to reduce the 1.3 billion tons of food that goes to waste and ends up in landfills each year.

Australia-based Goterra's innovation is about to go global. The company's "fully self-contained, automated capsules" contain black soldier fly larvae which digest food waste into fertilizer. Maggots within the capsules are used for animal feed. The units are placed in places with high concentrations of waste such as farms, restaurants and supermarkets.

UK entrepreneur Fotis Fotiadis agrees that "the missing link to the problem is insects as they provide the only way to convert all the excess nutrients into essential nutrient." His startup, Better Origins, creates insect mini-farms managed via artificial intelligence that convert food waste into poultry feed.

Lastly, Apeel Sciences is looking to reduce food waste before it hits the garbage can. The startup backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Andreessen Horowitz and Oprah Winfrey invented a plant-based edible coating that makes fruit last twice as long.

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