Insect farming: A bioeconomy-based opportunity to revalorize plastic wastes.

ABSTRACT: Managing plastic waste is one of the greatest challenges humanity faces in the coming years. Current strategies-landfilling, incineration, and recycling-remain insufficient or pose significant environmental concerns, failing to address the growing volume of plastic residues discharged into the environment. Recently, increasing attention has focused on the potential of certain insect larvae species to chew, consume, and partially biodegrade synthetic polymers such as polystyrene and polyethylene, offering novel biotechnological opportunities for plastic waste management. However, insect-assisted plastic depolymerization is incomplete, leaving significant amounts of microplastics in the frass (or manure), limiting its use as a soil amendment. In this perspective, we propose a novel two-step

SUBMITTER: Sanchez-Hernandez JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11758129 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature