Alternative ways of foamed polystyrene recycling using insects as an element of sustainable development

Abstract

Pursuant to the principles of sustainable development, so as not to diminish the chances of living on our planet for future generations, special attention should be paid to certain aspects of our economy, including waste management. This paper presents an alternative way of recycling Styrofoam, by employing larvae of one of the common warehouse pests, the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor L.). The aims of the research were to assess the biometric and enzymatic parameters of T. molitor larvae fed on Styrofoam, and to evaluate their possible use to decompose polystyrene waste. The experiment consisted of maintaining larvae for 10 weeks on nutrient substrates composed of foamed polystyrene (the control substrate was composed of oatmeal flakes). During the experiment, the mass of insects and the mass of ingested substrate were controlled. On the termination of the culture, digestive tracts of larvae from each replication was dissected to determine the enzymatic activity of the digestive system cells. To the biochemical analyses were made using the API® type assays. It has been demonstrated that owing to the enzymatic activity of the larval digestive tract and that of the gut microflora, mealworm larvae were able to digest waste slow to biodegrade, including polystyrene. A solution has been proposed, where providing suiTable conditions it will be possible to use mealworm larvae to utilise polystyrene waste.