Words by Natan Siekierka, Art by Zoë Graham.
I’ve found that no matter who you ask, everyone says they sometimes have a sudden urge to chomp down on something that they probably shouldn’t. Whatever it is, hey, I’m not here to judge. In fact, there’s good news for those who’s forbidden snack is Styrofoam, which you may soon be able to eat to your heart’s content… sort of.
Styrofoam- or Expanded PolyStyrene (EPS) if you’d rather use its chemical name- is a very common material. Its relatively low manufacturing cost, high thermal insulation, and low density have made it a very popular choice for single-use food packaging, “filler” for use in transport, and cheap building insulation. Unfortunately- despite its widespread use- EPS recycling in households is still relatively uncommon, generally being restricted to commercial operations. So what happens to the rest of the 10.5 million tons of EPS that are produced annually?
Why current disposal methods should have you Styro-foaming at the mouth.
Incinerators have the obvious downside of spewing massive amounts of toxic fumes into the atmosphere. This in turn can contribute to climate change or have a plethora of negative effects on organisms- anything from airway irritation to cancer, damage to foliage due to acid rain, etc. However, incineration isn’t all bad, since the heat can then be utilised to generate electricity. It also turns the refuse into ash, which not only makes it a lot more compact and easier to further dispose of, but is also currently being looked into for use in concrete, which we are (unfortunately) still largely reliant on.
Unlike incineration, landfill has no positives (and no, I’m not going to accept landfill mining, since it achieves exactly the same thing as recycling the waste in the first place would have). Landfills leach toxic chemicals into the ground, release massive amounts of Carbon Dioxide and methane, and make it easy for waste- especially that with a density as low as EPS- to be transferred into the surroundings by the wind, rain, or animals. This then makes it a lot more likely for it to be broken down into smaller pieces (aka microplastics- probably heard of them, there’s a lot of talk about them recently), which can then easily make their way into the food chain, and so into us. An accumulation of polystyrene particles in the body has been linked to metabolic and endocrine disruption as well as increased inflammation and rate of cell death. In short- it’s probably best not to have too much in your system. So, how can we dispose of it in a way that isn’t absolutely terrible?
How biodegradation is worming its way into the equation
“Life finds a way”
I have to admit, I’ve never seen Jurassic Park, but I think this quote fits here perfectly. Polystyrene has only been in large scale production since 1931, and since then we haven’t really found a good way of getting rid of it. But by some strange coincidence, it turns out that there are a wide range of organisms that can not only break it down, but actually use it as their primary food source. As much as I would love to go on a tangent about how fungi can break down basically any plastic and still be edible, I’d like to focus on a group of organisms that’re a bit more… divisive.
Bugs can eat anything. As it turns out, this also includes polystyrene, which has recently been found to be a viable food source for the larvae of several beetle species, most notably Zophobas atratus and several members of the genus Tenebrio (which the reptile enthusiasts among you may recognise as Superworms and Mealworms respectively), which can achieve this due to their gut bacteria. Both are noted for their voracious appetite, rapid weight gain, and resistance to difficult environmental conditions. Another thing about them: they’re already commonly sold as reptile feed, and are completely edible to humans, even after being raised on only polystyrene. In fact, it’s been found that mealworms on a solely polystyrene diet are higher in protein while being lower in fats and carbs than individuals raised on a normal diet. Maybe they could even be a good diet-friendly alternative? 500kcal and 52 grams of protein in a 100 gram serving of dried bugs sounds like pretty good macros to me.
Of course, not everyone will be comfortable with the idea of eating bugs raised on rubbish, but it’s an opportunity that we shouldn’t miss out on. After all, we already use organic waste for compost and fertiliser, so why not put the inorganic to use too? Not only would it help deal with the issue of EPS disposal without killing the environment and having plastic in our veins, but also provide a novel protein source for the rising population, one that doesn’t require the deforestation, widespread suffering, and ecological damage that comes with current sources. I admit, it will be strange at first, but who knows, we might find the allegedly “nutty” flavour to actually be quite nice. Besides, it’s the closest thing we can do to actually eating Styrofoam, right?
References:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1063653/expandable-polystyrene-production-capacity-globally/
https://landfillsolutions.eu/landfill-mining-what-are-the-benefits/
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-023-26565-6
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123308
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40643-022-00532-4
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.128846
UnEarth Magazine. 
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