There's a Creepy-Crawly Solution for a World Drowning in Styrofoam

[Omaha Steve]

X post in Environment.

Scientists discover that mealworms can digest the indigestible—the plastic polluting the planet.


(Photo: Charles Mann/Getty Images)


http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/10/05/worms-could-be-key-cleaning-plastic-pollution


OCT 5, 2015 Katharine Gammon has written for Nature, Wired , Discover, and Popular Science. A new mom, she lives in Santa Monica.

Forget diamonds—Styrofoam is forever.

The polystyrene packaging that cushioned your latest online order for delivery may well sit in landfills for many decades without degrading. How big is the problem? Americans throw out 2.5 billion Styrofoam cups alone each year.

But researchers have now confirmed for the first time that mealworms can biodegrade petroleum-based plastic in just days, thanks to bacteria in their gut. The mealworm is the larvae of the darkling beetle, and it can survive on a diet of Styrofoam and other types of polystyrene.

“People talk about how Styrofoam takes decades to biodegrade,” said Wei-Min Wu, a senior research engineer at Stanford University and the coauthor of two new papers on mealworms and plastic published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. “But we are confident there is a fast degradation, so this could eventually lead to a breakthrough for rapidly breaking down plastic in the environment.”

FULL story at link.

[MADem]

1. They are also recycling that stuff into building materials!

http://greenbuildingelements.com/2015/06/23/new-insulated-concrete-blocks-made-from-recycled-styrofoam/

A new company in Portland, Oregon is gearing up to manufacture large quantities of the latest product in the ICF (insulated concrete forms) world. BluBloc offers a twist on standard ICF products – it uses recycled styrofoam instead of manufacturing new for use in the forms.

BluBloc is 85% recycled polystyrene foam (styrofoam) and 15% cement. Like other ICF products, the “blocks” interlock to form the outside structure of a building. Cement is then poured inside the forms, creating a solid and interconnected structure. From there, interior and exterior treatments are added. ICF can be used in virtually any type or size of building, residential or commercial.

The advantages of ICF include increased insulation properties, soundproofing, and disaster, pest, and moisture resistance. One of the down sides has been than most products are made of new petroleum-based styrofoam. BluBloc takes post-consumer styrofoam, grinds it up, adds cement as a binder, and casts its forms from this material.

Michael Miner, CEO of BluBloc, estimates that more than 1,200 truckloads of polystyrene are hauled to Portland-area landfills each year (polystyrene is not recycled curbside or at the landfill). An average home constructed using BluBloc would use 2,500 pounds of the material, he said.

[spanone]

2. K&R...