Biological waste treatment technologies are regarded as promising solutions in developing countries due to their cost-effectiveness and capacity to process diverse waste streams. Among these, organic waste treatment using black soldier fly larvae has attracted increasing attention. However, scaling such biological systems still requires substantial financial investment and active business participation. Drawing on an analysis of 23 waste management companies listed on the Vietnamese stock market, this study identifies key barriers to the adoption and scaling of black soldier fly–based systems and other biological waste technologies. The results indicate that listed firms tend to frame environmental services primarily as profit-generating activities rather than long-term environmental commitments, as reflected in high cash dividend payout ratios and low retained earnings allocated to long-term investment. In addition, companies operating in the waste management industry appear to be systematically undervalued by the Vietnamese investing public, as evidenced by lower price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios than those of firms in other industries. Insights from a case study of the only listed company implementing a large-scale black soldier fly–based waste treatment project further reveal constraints related to the limited marketability of minimally processed outputs and underscore the strategic importance of value-chain integration. We therefore recommend fostering societal shifts toward an eco-surplus culture, alongside applying the semiconducting principle that governs the exchange between monetary and environmental values, as necessary conditions for addressing these challenges.
Hoang et al. (2026) studied this question.