{"id":643221,"date":"2026-10-11T14:21:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T14:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/643221\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T14:21:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T14:21:01","slug":"american-researchers-plan-to-recycle-plastic-by-putting-it-in-your-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/643221\/","title":{"rendered":"American researchers plan to \u2018recycle\u2019 plastic by putting it in your food"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Source: SIU Carbondale Communications (edited with AI)<\/p>\n

Researchers at Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale have created bioengineered baker\u2019s yeast to break down plastic waste into ingredients for the very food we eat, having now showcased 3D-printed cookies that originated from repurposed plastic garbage.<\/p>\n

The project, now titled \u201c\u00b5Bites\u201d after the \u201cmicrobites\u201d used to break down plastic, was initially financed through NASA\u2019s Deep Space Food Challenge with the goal of recycling any potential waste and turning it into something edible, which may very well be needed for extended space travel.<\/p>\n

However, while solving food insecurity in space may have been the initial goal of the project, many have their sights set closer to home for its immediate use. And according to SIU associate professor Lahiru Jayakody, the biggest hurdle now that the product exists will be getting consumers to accept it before it hits markets.<\/p>\n

This may even involve \u201cenacting policies aimed at transitioning people to novel, sustainable diets\u201d, according to an article released<\/a> by SIU in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cFood insecurity is a global and severe problem that affects millions of people\u2026 And it will increase as climate change becomes more severe,\u201d Jayakody said. \u201c\u00b5Bites is a transformative technology for treating world hunger and plastic pollution, creating a sustainable world for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

In terms of consumer acceptance, researchers say they\u2019re updating their recipe<\/a> to increase its palatability by incorporating baker\u2019s yeast and simulating vanilla flavouring, making it even harder to detect the inorganic plastic beneath the crust.<\/p>\n

According to Jayakody, \u201cWe also want to conduct public awareness and educational programs on \u00b5Bites technology, since social changes are needed for consumer acceptance of this new product.\u201d<\/p>\n

Share<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Source: SIU Carbondale Communications (edited with AI) Researchers at Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale have created bioengineered baker\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-643221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}