Worms To Help With Plastic Problems?

Scientists have found that yellow mealworms can digest plastic including Styrofoam.

16:43 17 November 2015

As plastic rubbish continues to destroy many parts of the world, scientists have found that yellow mealworms can digest all sorts of plastic even Styrofoam.

 

Based on the research conducted by the team from the US and China, larvae of Tenebrio molitor degrades plastic into carbon dioxide and transforms this into nutrition.

 

Co-author Wei-Min Wu, a senior research engineer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, said: "Our findings have opened a new door to solve the global plastic pollution problem."

 

The researchers fed 100 mealworms between 34 and 39 milligrams of Styrofoam. The worms converted about half of the previously thought to be non-biodegradable material into carbon dioxide.

 

The findings were published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal "Environmental Science & Technology".