Chitofarm is a first-of-its-kind biodigestor. Mealworms can safely break down soft plastics. This process, called “biodigestion,” occurs when petroleum-based materials are fully decomposed by nature. Mealworms fed a diet of plastic are healthy and still edible by humans. Plastics and toxins do not bioaccumulate, rather, the mealworms are able to process the plastics like they would any other food source. Chitofarm facilitates this natural process and places the agency of change into the hands of non-experts.

Patent-Pending

Right now, petroleum-based plastics are being moved around, the burden shifted to foreign lands. Single use plastics are then buried in landfills, burned, or polluted. This process is energy intensive and leads to physical and airborne pollutants. Short-use, virgin plastics are permanently entering all ecosystems on the planet. For the first time, microplastics have been found in the human bloodstream. Plastics have become a permanent part of our ecosystem. What’s more, we are running out of space in our landfills. To solve this problem, targeted, innovative & circular economy approaches are needed at a local scale.

The localized positioning of Chitofarm units at various scales has the potential to remove plastics permanently without burning fossil fuels.  This infrastructure could support informal micro-economies around waste picking. This becomes even more relevant when we consider extended producer responsibility legislation, where the largest producers of waste will be fiscally tasked with its management. When producers are asked to take ownership over their waste and carbon footprint, the economic incentive for localized, energy independent biodigestion is revealed. Chitofarm has the potential to promote human happiness, create livelihoods, and remediate damage.