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A species of caterpillar may provide answers on how to best eradicate plastic waste. Plastic waste is currently a 300 million-tons-per-year problem.

Researchers discovered the waxworm in 2017. It is seemingly able to eat through common types of plastic, including polyethylene. Polyethylene is a non-biodegradable type of plastic. It is the most commonly used plastic worldwide.

"They are voracious feeders during these larval stages," Bryan Cassone told USA TODAY. Cassone is an associate professor of biology at Brandon University.

Now researchers have offered an explanation. A study was published on March 3 in the open peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. It found that the micro-organisms in the wax worm's gut help them consume and metabolize plastics.

A worm in the palm of a hand.
Image 2. Researchers would like to use what in the gut bacteria of the waxworm allows it to break down plastic. It could help design better ways to get rid of plastic from the environment. Photo: Zebek studio/Shutterstock
Researchers at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada, found that waxworms are able to "ingest and metabolize polyethylene at unprecedented rates." This is thanks to the micro-organisms in their intestines.

"The caterpillar's gut microbiota seem to play a key role in the polyethylene biodegradation process," the researchers wrote.

Researchers found a greater amount of "microbial abundance" in the caterpillars' guts when they were ingesting plastic than when they ate a traditional diet of honeycomb.

In waxworms, polyethylene metabolizes into a glycol. Glycol is biodegradable.

Waxworms are not an end-all solution to plastic waste, however. Wax larvae are pests for bees. They naturally feed off honeycomb and run the risk of reducing their populations. In turn, they risk reducing populations of plants and crops.

Further, it remains unclear how the plastic breakdown process works in the waxworm. It is also unclear how its health is affected by its consumption.

The hope, Cassone said, is that researchers can harness what in the gut bacteria helps caterpillars so easily break down plastic. That way it can be used to design better ways to eliminate plastic from the environment.

"We envision harnessing the waxworm and its microbiome to develop approaches that do not require whole organisms – rather the products or by-products produced from their interactions that make their ability to break down plastic so efficient," Cassone said.