Reply to the ‘Comment on “Expanded polystyrene is not chemically degraded by mealworms”’ by W.-M. Wu and C. S. Criddle, RSC Sustainability , 2026, 4 , DOI: 10.1039/D5SU00247H
Abstract
EPS ingestion ≠ biodegradation: mealworms and superworms fed pure or commercial EPS die faster than starvation controls, shed only frass + microplastics, and leave the polymer’s chemical structure unchanged and unassimilated.
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