In a food waste recycling plant in Zhangqiu district in Jinan, East China’s Shandong Province, piles of food waste, freshly delivered here from local restaurants and canteens, are waiting to be recycled - by cockroaches.

　　在中国东部山东省济南章丘的一间食品垃圾回收工厂里，从本地餐馆和食堂刚送过来的成堆食品垃圾正在等待着被蟑螂回收利用。

　　After being ground, the food is pumped into glass containers in the plant through a pipe, then devoured by millions of cockroaches.

　　食品垃圾落地以后，通过管道用泵送入工厂里的玻璃容器，然后由数百万只蟑螂吞食。

　　For most people, cockroaches are pests that can leave an offensive odor, transmit viruses on their body surfaces and taint food. But Li Yanrong, a technician-turned entrepreneur from Jinan, has successfully turned them into professional recyclers after spending years studying the notorious insect.

　　对于大多数人来说，蟑螂是一种可以留下异味的害虫，在它们的身体表面传播病毒并且污染食物。但是来自济南的技术类企业家李艳荣在花费数年研究了这些臭名昭著的昆虫后，成功地把它们转变为了专业的回收利用者。

　　At the recycling plant, which doubles as a cockroach farm, the roaches feed on 15 tons of food waste every day, more than a third of all food waste generated from Zhangqiu’s restaurants and canteens. Previously, most of it would have ended up in landfills, causing environmental problems for the areas where they were buried.

　　在双倍扩建后犹如蟑螂农场的回收工厂里，蟑螂每天被喂食15吨食品垃圾，超过了章丘餐馆和食堂产生的食品垃圾总量三分之一。先前，大部分垃圾都进了垃圾填埋场，对填埋地区造成了环境问题。

　　Now, the roaches can not only decompose the waste leaving little residue, but also turn it into something useful. After the cockroaches die, their bodies, known to have high protein and nitrogen levels, will be made into cockroach powder to be used as a protein source for animal feed.

　　如今，蟑螂不仅可以分解垃圾留下微量残留物，而且可以把垃圾转变为有用的东西。蟑螂死后，它们的身体富含高蛋白和氮，将被制作为蟑螂粉作为动物饲料的蛋白质来源。

　　Next to the containers is an incubator, a warm and humid environment where young cockroach nymphs are bred. The 54-year-old said the number of cockroaches are growing exponentially, thanks to their resilience and fast-breeding capabilities.

　　容器旁边是一个环境温暖而潮湿的孵化器，年幼的蟑螂蛹在这里繁殖。54岁的企业家称，多亏了蟑螂的适应力和快速繁殖的能力，蟑螂数量一直成倍增长。

　　In 2014, there were only 400 kilograms of cockroaches in the plant. In 2015, the number surged to four tons, and this year, it’s projected that over 3,000 tons of cockroaches will be produced here.

　　2014年，工厂里只有400千克蟑螂。2015年，这一数字飞升到4吨，今年，计划将有3000多吨蟑螂在这里被产出。