Worming the Circular Economy for Biowaste and Plastics: Hermetia illucens, Tenebrio molitor, and Zophobas morio

Abstract

The negative impact of the modern-day lifestyle on the environment was aggravated during the COVID-19 pandemic through the increased use of single-use plastics from food take-aways to medical supplies. Similarly, the closure of food outlets and disrupted supply chains have also resulted in significant food wastage. As the pandemic rages on, the aggravation of increased waste becomes an increasingly urgent problem that threatens the biodiversity, ecosystems, and human health worldwide through pollution. While there are existing methods to deal with organic and plastic waste, many of the solutions cause additional problems. Increasingly proposed as a natural solution to man-made problems, there are insect solutions for dealing with the artificial and organic waste products and moving towards a circular economy, making the use of natural insect solutions commercially sustainable. This review discusses the findings on how some of these insects, particularly Hermetia illucens, Tenebrio molitor, and Zophobas morio, can play an increasingly important role in food and plastics, with a focus on the latter.