Beyond Microbial Biodegradation: Plastic Degradation by Galleria mellonella

Abstract

AbstractOne of the major environmental issues that modern civilizations are currently dealing with is the growing amount of plastic waste. Because of how they affect all forms of life, this waste is seen as a severe worldwide issue. Current methods for plastic waste disposal do not offer definitive solutions and often lead to the production of microplastics or secondary pollution. In recent years there has been a growing interest by the scientific community in the degradation of plastics by biological means, in particular the possibilities of using insects as a potential solution to the accumulation of this type of waste have been investigated. Among these, one of the most promising is undoubtedly the lepidopteran Galleria mellonella, which synthesizes the first ever discovered polyethylene degrading enzymes. In this review we propose an overview of plastic polymers production and common degradation methodologies, and analyses the current state of the art about the degradation carried out by this insect.