STUDY ON THE BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WAXWORM AND THE APPLICATION OF WAXWORM TO NYLON PE WASTE TREATMENT IN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Globally, the situation of plastic waste is causing several negative impacts on the environment and human health. Besides being a food for birds and reptiles, waxworms are known for their ability to eat plastic waste. The research aimed to study biological characteristics of waxworms (Galleria mellonella), then apply them to solve the nylon waste problem in International School - Thai Nguyen University. The study was conducted on 3 experiments with main food sources as PE nylon and honey, under the appropriate temperature and humidity conditions at the laboratory of the International School - Thai Nguyen University for 3 months: August, September and October in 2020. The research results showed that experiencing 4 stages of development, waxworms completed their whole life in a period of 35 - 40 days. Nylon PE is assimilated only at larval stage of waxworms. With appropriate living conditions of 26-33^oC, 80-83% humidity, the amount of nylon that 100 waxworms could handle in the larval stage when the feed contained only nylon was 1517.7 ± 8.9 mg, this figure reached 2200.2 ± 8.7 mg when the feed was added 5g honey/tray and achieved 2120.3 ± 7.9 mg when the feed was mixed 10 g honey/tray. The result showed that waxworms are capable of handling nylon PE in the temperature and humidity conditions at International School - Thai Nguyen University.