This actually sounds a bit scary, and I hope doesn't become reality, since it might turn out to be like termites --- given how much we rely on plastics, the damage caused by an inadvertent release or application could be severe.<p>Also, polyethylene is one of the simplest plastics and can be recycled quite effectively; so the real problem is getting people to reuse and recycle, and not disposal. Much of it comes from petroleum sources so a nontrivial amount of energy was already spent in its production too.
This was in April 2017. A more recent report questions the previous publication:<p>"Although the biochemical decomposition has not yet been disproven, the sensational report of plastic eating caterpillars at least appears highly doubtful in the light of these results." [1]<p>[1] <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170915144156.htm" rel="nofollow">https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170915144156.h...</a>
The waxworms in the article eat polyethylene. Common meal worms are capable of eating another plastic, polystyrene -- you can observe this yourself by just grabbing some from a pet store and putting them in a styrofoam container for a few days.<p>In the case of the mealworms, the digestion is coming from gut bacteria, but it remains unclear how waxworms are able to do it with polyethylene.
>Another question is the composition of their faeces. If these turn out to be toxic, then there will be little point in pursuing the matter.<p>In other words, we don't even know if they _digest_ the plastic, or just eat it. If they don't digest it, there's no utility....
Looks like instead of worms, they should focus on the enzymes that can break down the plastics. Apply gratuitously during waste processing and add them to landfills.
Potential downsides to consider:<p>1. What happens when we remove the "negative" side of using plastic products? Why use less if the worms can eat it all? I'm guessing production and consumption of single use polyethylene products will increase.<p>2. What if the worms escape control, (like the possums in New Zealand, the farmed salmon in the pacific etc etc) then what sort of new disaster do we have on our hands?
See also
<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14185891" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14185891</a>
There is also nylonase, or the nylon eating bacteria<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon-eating_bacteria" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon-eating_bacteria</a>
>Article title: Plastic-eating caterpillars could save the planet<p>Wait, since when is plastic the main menace to our planet?<p>>Another question is the composition of their faeces.<p>Yeah, it would suck if it produced even more CO2 and methane. Even if we can catch the methane to make energy, that's more CO2 that would have been otherwise sequestered.