Plastic-eating insects bring hope for waste in Kenya

In a bid to lessen the harmful effects from conventional ways of disposing of plastics, scientists in Kenya have found a promising solution for plastic disposal through mealworm beetles.

Fathiya Khamis, a molecular biologist said that despite previous discoveries of a small group of insects capable of breaking the polluting plastic down, this is the first time that an insect species native to Africa has been found to do this.

Khamis, who works with the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology or ICIPE, a global scientific research institute headquartered in Kenya, leads a team of scientists whose research has found that the larvae of Kenyan mealworm beetles can eat through polystyrene while host bacteria in their guts have the ability to break down plastic material through digestion.