It has recently been discovered that mealworms may be able to live off a diet of non-biodegradable plastics such as Styrofoam and other plastics. The very reason the mealworms make this possible is due to their ability to biodegrade polyethylene from microorganisms in their gut's. Researchers from Stanford and Beihang University say this is the largest environmental science discovery made in the last ten years, and even went as far to state that it has the potential to end the world's plastic pollution problem. These same researchers ran a test on one hundred mealworms that ate around 35 milligrams of Styrofoam a day and found that the worms' health neither got better nor worse, and remained the same as mealworms that only consumed bran. The plastic consumed by these tiny organisms created carbon dioxide, biodegradable waste, and worm biomass that was safe for crop and soil use. Something to take into consideration, said by the researchers, was the fact that the mealworms contain a certain bacteria that makes this all possible. In a separate experiment, the worms were fed antibiotics prior to Styrofoam consumption, resulting in the worms' inability to degrade the plastic material. With this recent breakthrough, scientists plan to tests whether or not other plastic compounds can be broken down by the microorganisms living in their gut, like polypropylene. Not to be mistaken with a substitute to recycling, these worms can help increase the percentage of plastic recycled each year by the U.S., which is currently only 10% of 33 million tons of plastic.
http://wtvr.com/2015/10/01/environmental-science-breakthrough-what-these-mealworms-can-eat-could-reduce-plastic-waste/
http://wtvr.com/2015/10/01/environmental-science-breakthrough-what-these-mealworms-can-eat-could-reduce-plastic-waste/