Nowadays, plastic waste is a challenging problem all over the world. Scientist world-wide are working hard to find ways to recycle the plastic wastes to save the earth from the white disaster.
Australian scientists have found a species of worm that can eat polystyrene(聚苯乙烯) could be the key to plastic recycling. Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia discovered the common Zophobas morio ‘superworm' can eat through polystyrene, thanks to a bacterial enzyme(酶) in their gut(肠道).
Dr 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, some grain and others had nothing to eat. "We found the superworms fed a diet of just polystyrene not only survived, but even had slight weight gains, " Dr. Rinke said. "This suggests the worms can get energy from the polystyrene, most likely with the help of the microbes(微生物) in their guts. " "Superworms are like mini recycling plants, tearing the polystyrene into pieces with their mouths and then feeding it to the bacteria in their gut, " Dr. Rinke said.
It's hoped this bio-upcycling will increase plastic waste recycling and reduce landfill. The long-term goal is to engineer enzymes to degrade(分解) plastic waste in recycling plants through mechanical shredding, when plastic waste is torn into pieces , bacterial enzyme from the superworms can finish the enzymatic biodegradation process.
Co-author of the research, Jiarui Sun, said they aim to grow the gut bacteria in the lab and further test its ability to degrade polystyrene. "We can then look into how we can improve this process to a level required for an entire recycling plant, " Ms. Sun said.
