🌅 These Worms Eat Plastic

SOURCE

Bryan Cassone (2025)

WHAT TO KNOW

• In 2017, a groundbreaking study demonstrated waxworms’ ability to break down polyethylene, the world’s most commonly produced plastic. Eight years later, researchers at Brandon University in Canada have confirmed the work at a larger scale, finding 2,000 waxworms—dubbed “plastivores”—can break down an entire polyethylene bag in as little as 24 hours.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Waxworms’ ability to eat polyethylene reduces the time it takes for the plastic to degrade from hundreds of years to as little as a day, offering a potential solution to plastic waste through “bio-recycling.” However, putting waxworms on a 100% polyethylene diet indeed comes with a downside: they all die. The researchers believe supplementing the waxworms’ diet with sugars and proteins will make it less fatal and extend their lifespans.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• While it’s not yet clear how to best deploy waxworms’ plastic-eating ability at a global scale, researchers in Spain have turned to the insects’ saliva as a possible solution. In a recent study, scientists discovered two enzymes in waxworm saliva that can break down polyethylene, uncovering what they believe to be the first animal enzymes with such capability.