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Australian scientists have found a way to recycle plastic using bacteria isolated from beetle larvae, which they call “super worms”. Talking about the research
What’s going on
- Scientists have discovered that the larvae of the Zophobas morio beetle, also known as zophobas or “super worms”, can feed on food made from plastic – polystyrene. This is possible thanks to the microbes in their intestines.
- Scientists divided the “super-worms” into three groups: the first ate only bran, the second – polystyrene, and the third was not fed at all.
- As a result, the bran-fed worms gained more weight than anyone else. The worms that ate the plastic also gained weight, but less than the first group.
- The researchers not only observed the worms, but also analyzed the intestinal bacteria. The worms that were given polystyrene had fewer bacteria and worsened the health of the insects.
- For this reason, for plastic recycling, the author of the study, Chris Rinke, suggests not using worms, but imitating the digestive secrets of insects in bioreactors. To do this, you can use bacterial enzymes in the intestines of the worm from the catalog that the research team collected during the experiment.
What does it mean
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there were about 2021 billion tons of plastic in the world in 8,3, with 6,3 billion tons being waste. It’s like 55 million giant jets.
There are several ways to recycle plastic. The first is mechanical. In this case, plastic waste is melted down into new products. The second is chemical processing. It involves the decomposition of plastic under the influence of chemicals. One of the methods is pyrolysis and gasification. Pyrolysis turns plastic into crude oil, while gasification turns it into gas. It can be used to generate energy.
Among the advantages of plastic recycling are the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere and the amount of garbage that enters the oceans, as well as the creation of new jobs, the reproduction of oil, the reduction of energy costs for the production of new products, and others.