Polina Dubovskaya, a third-year student of the Department of Technology and Organization of Food Production at Novosibirsk State Technical University (NETI), has developed a technology for recycling non-recyclable plastic using selective wax moths. Recent studies on the maintenance of insect farms have shown that two hundred moth larvae eat four kilograms of such plastic in ten days. And insect waste products can subsequently be used in medicine, cosmetology, agriculture, dietary supplements production and chemical research.
The main feature of the project is the artificial creation of a line of insects that eat plastic more efficiently, unlike an ordinary large wax moth. The technology of moth breeding, developed by a student of NSTU-NETI, will allow you to bring out the right generation in five generations. Thanks to proper care of farms, a perfectly matched nutrition plan and the creation of a favorable environment, insects begin to adapt and subsequently effectively recycle plastic that cannot be disposed of.
To date, the most common method of plastic recycling in Russia is the thermal method. The main reason is financial accessibility and ease of implementation. However, during the burning process, plastic releases harmful gases and toxic substances that pollute the atmosphere and contribute to the creation of a greenhouse effect.
"Now the recycling of plastic as a secondary raw material is the most common and popular way of environmentally friendly disposal of polymer waste. It takes a lot of money to implement it. This includes cleaning and sorting of raw materials by brand. For this reason, most often organizations prefer to get rid of plastic with the help of fire, which is very harmful to the environment. The creation of insect farms is a new eco—friendly and, most importantly, a cheap way to recycle plastic from the point of view of its implementation," said Polina Dubovskaya, the author of the project.
In nature, the large wax moth, or bee fireworm, is a pest of honey bees. She lives and settles in hives, eats honeycombs, honey and bee waste products, destroying everything without a trace. The insect actively feeds at the age of the caterpillar and loves warmth. The full cycle of his life is 30 days.
Due to their high nutritional value, these insects and their waste products have a wide range of applications. For example, biological masses obtained during the maintenance of farms can be used in the production of biogels based on chitosan and dietary supplements, in cosmetology, in medicine (tinctures), in agriculture as a feed additive for animals, and in laboratory research — as a chemical element that would effectively combine the necessary substances.
"Wax is very similar to plastic in its chemical structure, which is why the theory arose that an insect can eat plastic. A special nutrition plan allows you to bring out a mole in the generation process, which will consume more polymer waste with each generation. Two hundred fireworm larvae eat four kilograms of plastic in ten days. To make it convenient for insects to eat it, we chop up garbage. The composition of insect food, in addition to plastic, includes honey, corn groats, wax and other products that contribute to the effective digestion of polymers in moths," Polina Dubovskaya shared.
The idea of creating a generation of insects that would effectively consume plastic as an environmentally friendly way of recycling plastic was born in Polina Dubovskaya at school, six years ago. The implementation of the project began when she was invited to join the team of Candidate of Biological Sciences Ekaterina Litvinova from Novosibirsk State Technical University (NETI). Earlier, their team, within the framework of the Priority 2030 program, developed a liquid dust suppressor and a product for the end user: a series of tests under the UNIGEL trademark based on chitosan biogel.
Now the author of the technology of recycling plastic with the help of insects is looking for partners and investors to increase the scale of farms with a large wax moth. In the future, Polina Dubovskaya, together with her colleagues, plans to obtain chitosan from moths and use it in the production of biogels.