Plastic-Eating ‘Superworms’ Could Fight World’s Garbage Crisis

News- Researchers at the University of Queensland (Australia) have discovered the common Zophobas morio ‘superworm’ can eat through polystyrene, thanks to a bacterial enzyme in their gut

Chris Rinke and his team from UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences fed superworms different diets over a three-week period, with some given polystyrene foam, some bran and others put on a fasting diet

We found the superworms fed a diet of just polystyrene not only survived, but even had marginal weight gains”, Rinke said. “This suggests the worms can derive energy from the polystyrene, most likely with the help of their gut microbes

“Superworms are like mini recycling plants, shredding the polystyrene with their mouths and then feeding it to the bacteria in their gut”, he said. “The breakdown products from this reaction can then be used by other microbes to create high-value compounds such as bioplastics

This research has been published in Microbial Genomics

21.06.2022

Ref: www.waste-management-world.com

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