Researchers thought larvae could help eliminate our plastic
"The world's worst diet," researcher says.
Published
Have you ever wondered what future generations will find from us in 100,000 years?
Maybe not much – except for our plastic.
It lasts nearly forever. And we keep adding more and more.
What if a little critter in nature could help us?
The larva solution
"Many researchers thought larvae could be a solution to the plastic problem," says Professor Vaaje-Kolstad.
It might sound unusual, but it became a popular topic among researchers worldwide.
Forskning.no also wrote about a study on plastic-eating larva in 2017.
"We thought the larvae could digest plastic," he says.
The larvae gnawed on the plastic.
"Maybe because it resembled real larva food. They eat wax, which is similar to plastic," says the researcher.
Imagine if we could scatter larvae over landfills and let them gnaw away or break down the plastic.
Could it be possible?
"Unfortunately, the answer is no," says Vaaje-Kolstad.
Pooped out microplastic
The larvae may have munched on the plastic. But there were two problems:
The larvae pooped out microplastic – which was worse than the plastic they started eating.
The larvae were put on the world's worst diet. They never got full.
"It's like if we were to eat a newspaper. It would just come out again as paper mush," says the researcher.
We humans wouldn't feel full from eating a newspaper either.
Not precice enough
The news about the larvae spread around the world.
"But something that looks good at first glance can turn out to be nonsense," says Vaaje-Kolstad.
That can happen if researchers are not precice enough.
"Good research should be repeatable by other researchers and yield the same results," he says.
That was not the case with the larvae.
Like a string of pearls
Larvae poop was a disappointment for the researchers.
"How can plastic be broken down, then?"
"Our plastic consists of long chains made up of small building blocks. You can think of it like many small beads strung together, forming a pearl necklace," he says.
Something has to happen if used plastic is to be recycled and made into new plastic again.
Most viewed
"The long pearl chains need to be broken down into individual beads," he says.
Only then can we rebuild with them.
Stop making plastic?
We have been making plastic for over a hundred years. But we haven't figured out how to break it down properly.
"Even though the larvae can't do what we first thought, we are inspired," says the researcher.
He believes we will manage to invent plastic that can be broken down not too long from now.
"Why is it important to figure this out?"
"Plastic has many good qualities, and we wouldn't manage without it," he says.
It's durable and waterproof.
The researcher says the best thing would be if we could reuse all plastic.
"If we manage that, we can stop making plastic," he says.
———
Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik
Read the Norwegian version of this article on ung.forskning.no
Related content:
Subscribe to our newsletter
The latest news from Science Norway, sent twice a week and completely free.
