Chapter 1
Chapter 1
You throw away a bottle. The drink is gone. The taste is forgotten. But the plastic remains.
You threw it away, but the Earth didn't.
And that growing accumulation of waste is exactly the problem our research is designed to address.
EcoDigest: Comparative Characterization and Biodegradation Potential of Enzymatic Extracts from Theobroma cacao, Zophobas morio, and Musa acuminata x Musa balbisiana for HDPE Depolymerization
What is HDPE?
High-Density Polyethylene, or HDPE, is one of the most widely used plastics in the world, found in everything from shampoo bottles and milk jugs and chemical containers. It is valued for its strength, affordability, and high resistance to chemical breakdown. However, these same properties make HDPE a serious environmental concern. Because its molecular bonds are highly resilient, it does not naturally break down easily and can remain in landfills and oceans for hundreds of years.
To tackle this issue, our research explores EcoDigest-a biological approach that utilizes natural crude enzymes from:
Superworms (Zophobas morio) Cacao pod husks (Theobroma cacao) Banana peels (Musa acuminata x Musa balbisiana)
to break down HDPE waste.
We tested and compared the enzymatic activity and weight-loss performance of these three natural sources.
Zophobas morio performed the best, recording an enzyme activity of sixty-two point five units per milliliter and achieving the highest HDPE degradation at eighteen point seven grams per one hundred grams of plastic. Cacao followed with twelve point five grams, while banana peel recorded nine point three grams.
Ultimately, EcoDigest demonstrates that agricultural waste and natural biological processes can be transformed into promising, eco-friendly tools for addressing our global plastic crisis.