Here’s how long it would take 100 worms to eat the plastic in one face mask

I remember reading somewhere that scientists discovered some bugs that could eat plastic. Well, not bugs exactly. Worms. Although I clicked on this article with a positive outlook, the experiment ultimately falls short on solving our plastic problem.

From a ScienceNews article referencing Gicole et al., (2024):

"A new experiment sprinkles a dose of reality on just how effective this strategy might be in preventing the planet from drowning in plastics. It would take 100 mealworms 138 days, or about 4.5 months, to eat just one disposable COVID-era face mask, ecologist Michelle Tseng and colleagues calculate December 4 in Biology Letters" (Milius, 2025).

"Earlier experiments showed that several species of insects could eat and degrade [microplastics]. Plump, hungry beetle larvae called superworms (Zophobas atratus) and yellow mealworms (Tenebrio molitor), sold in pet stores as food for other animals, will consume tidbits of polypropylene, polyurethane and three more kinds of plastic" (Milius, 2025).

"Almost all earlier research used powdered plastic or a brick of it; her team instead turned to the iconic, rectangular, tissue-y face masks. Some were made using classic polypropylene, others the plant-based plastic polylactic acid. The masks would give insects not just the basic polymer, but real-world additives from the manufacturer" (Milius, 2025).

"Eating plastic did not noticeably shorten the insects’ life span, she says. What ingesting all that microplastic does to their own edibility raises questions about fitting the insects into some sustainable food chain. Would they now be suitable to feed chickens? 'Probably not,' Tseng says" (Milius, 2025).

"A better way to use mealworms or other eaters of microplastics is for inspiration — exploring body chemistry and especially their inner microbial partners. That could lead to useful waste-breakdown hacks. Even with better chemistry, the researchers say the bigger point is this: Use less plastic" (Milius, 2025).

I suppose these plastic eating worms fall into the biggest circular economy loop. If plastics can’t be recycled or reused, maybe they can be… eaten? I think it is interesting that researchers are seeing if plastic fits into nature’s very complicated food web. But plastic is not organic. If chickens ate the worms that ate the plastic, what would happen to them? And if we were to eat the chicken, what would happen to us? I think this just further proves that plastic never truly goes away. We can break it down into smaller and smaller pieces but we’re just taking turns holding it in our bodies. I do think we can be inspired by these worms, though. Instead of producing more plastic, let’s start capturing it and storing it away from our oceans, animals, and plants.

No generative artificial intelligence (AI) was used in the writing of this work.

References

Gicole, S., Dimitriou, A., Klasios, N., & Tseng, M. (2024). Partial consumption of medical face masks by a common beetle species. Biology Letters, 20(12). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0380

Milius, S. (2025, March 17). Here’s how long it would take 100 worms to eat the plastic in one face mask. Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/worms-eating-plastic