Researchers in Valencia are advancing a pioneering approach that employs insects to speed up the breakdown of plastics used in food packaging. The goal is to reduce the share of these products that end up in incinerators or landfills, moving toward more sustainable waste management in the agri-food sector.
The project is guided by the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology, a joint research center of the University of Valencia and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). It also involves the Technological Plastics Institute (Aimplas) and Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence, bringing together expertise from biology, materials science, and sustainable development.
A grant of 530,000 euros from the Valencia Innovation Agency supports the work. The team is evaluating the system with multi-layer packaging, which uses several material layers to better protect food. The method leverages the natural activity of moth, insect, and grasshopper larvae, along with certain gut microorganisms, to accelerate the degradation of polyethylene. The research also considers polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyurethane, two plastics commonly found in food supply chains.
Those leading the initiative, gathering under the name Entomoplast, describe the approach as a way to enable recycling of multilayer packaging that combines thin plastic layers. This packaging is known for its sealing, structural strength, heat resistance, and sometimes printed graphics. These properties have driven widespread use in the food industry, yet they also complicate recycling and waste handling. The Entomoplast project aims to preserve the protective and safety features of packaging while simplifying end-of-life processing for these laminated materials.
Recycling such multilayer formats is challenging and costly because the separate layers must often be separated before processing. Paul Ferrero, the project’s principal investigator and a member of Aimplas, emphasizes that the insect-assisted approach could make recycling more efficient by accelerating the breakdown process through larval activity. Ongoing Valencian research explores a larval species that not only speeds biodegradation but also has the potential to convert plastic components into biopolymers and high-value bioadditives, adding another dimension to circular economy prospects.