Scientists at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have turned discarded plastic bottles into protein-rich cookies, a discovery they say could help fight both plastic pollution and hunger. The treats are made largely from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, the plastic used in most water and soda bottles.
Researchers engineered strains of yeast, including common baker’s yeast, to break down the plastic along with leftover corn stalks and other crop waste. A separate process, developed by SIU geology professor Ken Anderson, uses high heat, water, and oxygen to break the raw material into pieces small enough for the yeast to digest.
The yeast then rebuilds those pieces into proteins, fats, and acids. Workers add fiber, starch, and sweetener to the mixture, then push it through a 3D printer to shape it into cookies. In simple terms, the process turns plastic bottles into cookies.
From plastic bottles to edible protein-rich cookies
Lead researcher Lahiru Jayakody, an associate professor at the university, said the project grew out of earlier work on plastic recycling. He and his team realized that plastic and food share the same basic building block: carbon.
Jayakody said microbes are effective tools because they can be directed to solve problems humans created. Graduate student Sandhya Jayasekara also engineered yeast strains that add flavor and nutrition.
🔴Headed to Mars?
You will eat plastic, and you will be happy.Meet µBites, the 3D printed plastic cookie.
Researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have engineered a process that converts discarded PET plastic bottles and agricultural sweet corn "slurry" waste… pic.twitter.com/dL5li7ZiZd
— Flöh Creative Mary Ellen Schrock (@FlohCreative) August 25, 2026
One strain produces vanilla flavoring from plant waste, while another converts ethylene glycol, a compound in PET plastic, into beta-carotene, which the body turns into vitamin A. Jayasekara said the goal is to make the cookies appealing enough for everyday use, not just emergencies.
Early testing shows the cookies are safe to eat, though the team is still waiting for approval to run formal taste tests. Informal smell tests found that most participants would eat the cookies if food was scarce, such as during a disaster or a long space mission.
NASA-backed project heads to National Science Meeting
The work is part of a NASA-backed effort to design food for astronauts on deep space missions, where fresh supplies are limited. Researchers plan to present their findings at the American Chemical Society’s fall meeting, held August 23 to 27 at McCormick Place.
Jayakody said he hopes µBites could reach the public within a few years and eventually be produced almost entirely by microbes. He pointed to United Nations estimates that 2.1 billion people face food insecurity worldwide, with global food demand expected to rise sharply by 2050.
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