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Scientist discovers a global solution to garbage problems Discovering plastic eating caterpillar species
Bags, bottles, packaging and much more: Countless commodities are made of plastic. However, the material used is hardly biodegradable. This has led to a massive waste problem in recent decades. But now there is hope: researchers have discovered a caterpillar species that eats plastic.
Dismantling takes centuries
For years experts have been trying to find ways to best solve the global garbage problem. Especially the plastic waste turns out to be difficult, after all, the material is hardly biodegradable. "It takes around 400 years for a normal plastic bag to decompose. Plastic bottles take 450 years, nylon nets for fishing even 600 years ", reported the Fraunhofer Institute a few years ago. But there may be a solution to the problem now: researchers discovered a caterpillar eating plastic.
Every year around one trillion plastic bags are produced. Since the material is hardly biodegradable, much of it ultimately ends up in the sea. A small animal could help solve the global garbage problem: Researchers found that certain caterpillars eat plastic. (Image: kranidi / fotolia.com) Every year one trillion plastic bags are produced
Worldwide, around one trillion plastic bags are produced each year, which together amount to 60 million tons. Since only a small portion of the global plastic waste is recycled, it increasingly accumulates in the environment.
Much of it ends up in the sea. Meanwhile, plastic waste can be found in all marine regions. Even in arctic waters, plastic waste has already been discovered.
This also creates health hazards. For example, plastic parts were found in marine fish. And also microplastics in sea salt could already be proven.
Looking for alternatives
In view of the increasing waste problem, "Feverishly looking for alternatives to petroleum-based plastics that can be completely biodegraded," wrote the Fraunhofer Institute, when it reported on the development of new bio-plastic packaging.
But there may be a much simpler solution to the worldwide garbage problem: the caterpillars of the Great Waxing Moth (Galleria mellonella).
These eat the most commonly used and hardly biodegradable plastic polyethylene (PE), as researchers write in the journal "Current Biology".
This was discovered - as so much in science - by a coincidence.
Random find of a hobby beekeeper
"I occupy myself professionally with chick embryos, but I am a hobby beekeeper," said study author Federica Bertocchini of the Spanish Universidad de Cantabria, according to a message from the news agency dpa.
According to her, when she cleaned a hive, she had "discovered these little worms," who feed on pollen remains and are like beekeepers to us beekeepers. ".
The Italian therefore packed the larvae in a plastic bag and soon realized: "After a while, the bag was full of holes and the larvae outside!"
Through this observation, the research work of the scientist and her colleagues was set in motion.
Get rid of plastic waste in landfills and oceans
The team found that about 100 wax moth larvae can eat about 92 milligrams of a normal grocery bag in 12 hours. "This is a very rapid reduction, faster than anything that has been published scientifically on this subject," says Bertocchini.
Study co-author Paolo Bombelli of the University of Cambridge said in a statement: "This discovery could be an important tool to get rid of the polyethylene plastic waste that has accumulated in landfills and oceans."
According to Bertocchini, the find has "potential for significant biotechnological applications" because of its high rate of decomposition..
The scientist explained: "We suspect that this rapid decomposition is caused by a molecule or enzyme that we will try to isolate." She hopes that this enzyme can then be widely produced and used to degrade plastic waste.
Other organisms are also degrading plastics
It has long been known that other organisms such as fungi or bacteria can break down plastics. For example, researchers at the Japanese Kyoto Institute of Technology have discovered a bacterium called Ideonella sakaiensis that can digest PET bottles.
However, this "plastic eater", as previously discovered, is far from providing a solution to the global plastic waste problem.
Because even under optimal conditions it takes about six weeks to decompose a small piece of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The caterpillars of the large wax moth are significantly faster in the degradation of polyethylene (PE). (Ad)