Abstract

Plastic materials are an important part of the global economy, and people's daily lives, while plastic waste has been one of the biggest environmental pollutants for decades. The level of accumulation of this waste in the environment is high and constant, while the degree of its degradation is very low. Several insect species, such as the larvae of the mealworm, Tenebrio molitor, have the ability to biodegrade different types of plastic. Different symbiotic strains of bacteria are present in their midgut, which, in addition to their important role in food digestion, participate in the biodegradation of plastic materials. During this metabolic breakdown, no toxic bioproducts are synthesized. Polystyrene is massively used in the food industry for food packaging, so it is necessary to develop a sustainable system for its biodegradation. Polystyrene has great potential in the circular economy, in terms of reuse and recycling. On the other hand, insects, such as T. molitor larvae, are gaining more and more attention in circular economy systems due to their high efficiency in the conversion of waste into biomass compared to other animals, easy cultivation in a small space, with minimal water and energy consumption, use of organic, and even plastic waste as a food, and their frass can be used as a natural, organic fertilizer. The main goal of this project is the development of a circulatory system in which T. molitor larvae would be fed wheat bran (the usual substrate) with the addition of polystyrene. There are multiple advantages that this innovation would bring: reducing the amount of plastic waste, reducing the level of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as reducing the level of soil and water pollution and a healthier environment.