Overview

• Experiments at Brandon University showed that about 2,000 waxworms can fully degrade a polyethylene bag within 24 hours.
• Analysis reveals the caterpillars metabolize ingested plastic into lipids stored as body fat.
• A plastic-only diet leads to mass loss and death within days, spurring research into co-supplemented feeding regimes.
• Scientists are isolating waxworm enzymes responsible for polyethylene depolymerization to replicate the process in laboratory settings.
• Researchers are evaluating mass rearing strategies and the use of resulting insect biomass as a sustainable aquaculture feed.