The local dump near a town called Bratomik is the first to use the larvae of the common American beetle as a means to process specific kinds of waste in a large scale. This al begun with a larvae plague that led to a fortunate discovery.
In the beginning of September 2015, people in a town called Bratomik in California ( This town doesn’t exist in real life.) complained about an outbreak of mealworms. The inhabitants mainly complained about the fact that these worms where eating their crops and houseplants. Luckily their complaints where heard and the government invested in a new kind of insect spray to spray on the crops. It seemed to work perfectly and people where hopeful that taking away the main food source of the mealworms would decrease their numbers. But instead the worms simply moved from the field to the bin by eating trash.
An article written by: Riekje Hartog
The larvae of the common American beetle turn out to have a thing for Styrofoam. They can eat it while still remaining perfectly healthy. After realising what they where dealing with and the benefits that it could bestow, the government of Bratomik decided to use the worms as a revolutionary and sustainable way to process their waste.
The towns mare: ‘What started out as a agricultural disaster turned out to be a push in the direction of a more sustainable environment.’
