Plastic Waste Turned Into Protein-Rich Cookies: How Engineered Yeast Could Tackle Food Insecurity and Plastic Pollution

Researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have developed a cookie called µBites, made partly from molecules derived from plastic waste and agricultural biomass. Using engineered yeast, they break down materials like PET plastic and corn stalks into proteins, vitamins, and flavorings. The process, oxidative hydrothermal dissolution, uses water and oxygen at high temperature and pressure to make the waste consumable by microbes, which then produce food-grade compounds. The team has engineered yeast strains to create vanilla flavoring and beta-carotene from waste-derived substrates, aiming to make the product more appealing. While taste tests await institutional approval, the project targets resource-limited settings like space missions, disaster zones, and submarines, with broader implications for circular economy and food security. The research was presented at ACS Fall 2026 and funded by NASA and NSF.