Recent research has shown that the digestive tracts of some invertebrates, notably insects, have microbial symbionts that help in the decomposition of various natural polymers that have similar structural arrangements to synthetic polymers.
To overcome these limits, there was a need for a niche that would make plastic trash more accessible and bio-available to a dynamic microbial consortium. As a result, a microbial assemblage will likely provide a more efficient biodegradation rate.
Furthermore, since biodegradation of a single polymer is usually a complicated process involving numerous enzymes, microbial consortia rather than a single species or strain biodegrade diverse natural and even synthesised polymers. Various insects of the Coleopteran and Lepidopteran orders have been observed to have remarkable abilities to consume and degrade a wide range of synthetic polymers such as polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PU), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into lower molecular weight, simpler, and nontoxic molecules that are eventually excreted as fecula.Īlthough microbial biodegradation appears sustainable, it has limits and compared to plastic trash generation, its efficiency is modest. Thus, the concept of the insect as a biodegrading organism for synthetic polymers was developed. While eating, insects come into contact with a wide range of hydrocarbon polymers, and the intestinal tracts of some insects contain microbial symbionts that aid in the decomposition of these polymers. The vast majority of eukaryotic biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems is represented by insects.
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