scholarly journals Method for Zero-Waste Circular Economy Using Worms for Plastic Agriculture: Augmenting Polystyrene Consumption and Plant Growth

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Samuel Ken-En Gan ◽  
Ser-Xian Phua ◽  
Joshua Yi Yeo ◽  
Zealyn Shi-Lin Heng ◽  
Zhenxiang Xing
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Food Additives ◽  
Poultry Feed ◽  
Zero Waste ◽  
Dragon Fruit ◽  
Hylocereus Undatus ◽  
Natural Solution ◽  
And Control

Polystyrene (PS) is one of the major plastics contributing to environmental pollution with its durability and resistance to natural biodegradation. Recent research showed that mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) and superworms (Zophobas morio) are naturally able to consume PS as a carbon food source and degrade them without observable toxic effects. In this study, we explored the effects of possible food additives and use of worm frass as potential plant fertilizers. We found that small amounts of sucrose and bran increased PS consumption and that the worm frass alone could support dragon fruit cacti (Hylocereus undatus) growth, with superworm frass in particular, supporting better growth and rooting than mealworm frass and control media over a fortnight. As known fish and poultry feed, these findings present worms as a natural solution to simultaneously tackle both the global plastic problem and urban farming issue in a zero-waste sustainable bioremediation cycle.

scholarly journals Plastic agriculture using worms: Augmenting polystyrene consumption and using frass for plant growth towards a zero-waste circular economy.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darius Wen-Shuo Koh ◽  
Brennan Yi-Xing Ang ◽  
Joshua Yi Yeo ◽  
Zhenxiang Xing ◽  
Samuel Ken-En Gan
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Food Additives ◽  
Poultry Feed ◽  
Zero Waste ◽  
Dragon Fruit ◽  
Hylocereus Undatus ◽  
Natural Solution ◽  
And Control ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Plastic Carbon

Polystyrene (PS) is one of the major plastics contributing to environmental pollution with its durability and resistance to biodegradation. Recent research has found mealworms ( Tenebrio molitor) and superworms ( Zophobas morio) to be able to utilize PS as a carbon food source and degrade them without toxic effects. In this study, the effects of food additives on plastic consumption augmentation were studied, with small additions of sucrose and bran found to increase PS consumption. To close the plastic carbon cycle, we also evaluated the use of worm frass for dragon fruit cacti ( Hylocereus undatus) growth and found that superworm frass supported rooting and growth better than mealworm frass and control media over a fortnight. Superworms, apart from being known fish and poultry feed, have been shown to be a suitable natural solution to the PS plastic problem that can support plant growth towards a zero-waste sustainable bioremediation cycle.

scholarly journals Plastic agriculture using worms: Augmenting polystyrene consumption and using frass for plant growth towards a zero-waste circular economy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darius Wen-Shuo Koh ◽  
Brennan Yi-Xing Ang ◽  
Joshua Yi Yeo ◽  
Zhenxiang Xing ◽  
Samuel Ken-En Gan
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Food Additives ◽  
Zero Waste ◽  
Dragon Fruit ◽  
Hylocereus Undatus ◽  
Natural Solution ◽  
And Control ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Plastic Carbon

ABSTRACTPolystyrene or PS is one of the plastics contributing to environmental pollution with its durability and resistance to biodegradation. Recent research has found that mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) and superworms (Zophobas morio) are able to utilize polystyrene as a carbon food source and degrade them without toxic effects. In this study, we studied food additives to augment the plastic consumption and found that small additions of sucrose and bran were able to encourage PS consumption. To close the plastic carbon cycle, we also evaluated the use of the worm frass for dragon-fruit cacti (Hylocereus undatus) growth and found that superworm frass supported rooting and growth better than mealworm frass and control media over a fortnight. From the results, superworms are shown to be a suitable natural solution to the PS plastic problem that can also support plant growth towards a zero-waste sustainable bioremediation cycle.

scholarly journals Plastic agriculture using worms: Augmenting polystyrene consumption and using frass for plant growth towards a zero-waste circular economy.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darius Wen-Shuo Koh ◽  
Brennan Yi-Xing Ang ◽  
Joshua Yi Yeo ◽  
Zhenxiang Xing ◽  
Samuel Ken-En Gan
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Food Additives ◽  
Poultry Feed ◽  
Zero Waste ◽  
Dragon Fruit ◽  
Hylocereus Undatus ◽  
Natural Solution ◽  
And Control ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Plastic Carbon

Polystyrene (PS) is one of the major plastics contributing to environmental pollution with its durability and resistance to biodegradation. Recent research has found mealworms ( Tenebrio molitor ) and superworms ( Zophobas morio ) to be able to utilize PS as a carbon food source and degrade them without toxic effects. In this study, the effects of food additives on plastic consumption augmentation were studied, with small additions of sucrose and bran found to increase PS consumption. To close the plastic carbon cycle, we also evaluated the use of worm frass for dragon fruit cacti ( Hylocereus undatus ) growth and found that superworm frass supported rooting and growth better than mealworm frass and control media over a fortnight. Superworms, apart from being known fish and poultry feed, have been shown to be a suitable natural solution to the PS plastic problem that can support plant growth towards a zero-waste sustainable bioremediation cycle.

Utilization Of White-Meat, Red-Meat And Super Red Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus sp) Skin Waste As An Alternative Food Source

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (01) ◽  
pp. 18-21
Author(s):  
Yulian Syahputri ◽  
Diana Widiastuti
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Fiber ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Red Meat ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Alternative Food ◽  
Sodium Metabisulfite ◽  
White Meat ◽  
Fruit Skin ◽  
Dragon Fruit ◽  
Alternative Food Source

Dragon fruit skin, waste material (dragon fruit waste), will have a profitable sale value if it can be used as a food raw material. Dragon fruit skin waste contains relatively high dietary fiber so it can be used as a food raw material. This study aims to utilize dragon fruit skin waste for the manufacture of dragon fruit skin flour as an alternative food source. Some tests are made on white-meat dragon fruit skin, red-meat dragon fruit skin and super red dragon fruit skin. The preliminary study is the soaking of the three types of dragon fruit skin in two solutions, namely 0.1% sodium citrate and 0.1% sodium metabisulfite to prevent the browning effect on flour. Dragon fruit skin flour from the soaking with both solutions is then characterized physically, including its texture, color, flavor and rendement. The best physical characterization is followed by chemical characterization, including the contents of water, ash, protein, fat, carbohydrate, dietary fiber, minerals (Fe, Na, K, Ca and P), and also microbiological characterization of Escherichia coli, molds and Bacillus cereus. The chemical and microbiological characterization shows that the red-meat dragon fruit skin flour has better results than the white-meat and super red dragon fruit skin flour does. The red-meat dragon fruit skin flour contains 8.80% water, 0.20% ash, 2.35% fat, 7.69%, protein, 68,29% carbohydrate and 28,72% dietary fiber as well as 4.40 mg K, 8.76 mg Na , 0.65 mg Fe , 10.20 mg Ca and 32.58 mg P. Keywords: Waste, Dragon Fruit Skin, Dragon Fruit Skin Powder, Alternative Food Source

scholarly journals Integrated Mechanistic Engineering Models and Macroeconomic Input-Output approach to Model Physical Economy for Evaluating the Impact of transition to Circular Economy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkata Sai Gargeya Vunnava ◽  
Shweta Singh
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Zero Waste ◽  
Engineering Models ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sustainable Transition

Sustainable transition to low carbon and zero waste economy requires a macroscopic evaluation of opportunities and impact of adopting emerging technologies in a region. However, a full assessment of current...

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