NASA-Funded Team Turns PET Plastic Into $60-a-Kilo Astronaut Cookies

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 24

$60 a kilogram cookies made from PET bottle plastic and farm waste were unveiled by Dr. Lahiru Jayakody's team as a potential food source for long-duration space missions.
Engineered yeast consume carbon-rich molecules released when PET is broken down with water and oxygen under high heat and pressure, then convert them into proteins, fats and other nutrients for 3D-printed discs.
A separate yeast strain produced vanilla flavoring from plant biomass, but the researchers have not eaten the cookies yet because they are still awaiting approval for human testing.
NASA backed the work through its Deep Space Food Challenge, aimed at feeding astronauts on roughly three-year Mars round trips where waste must be reused.
The team says better yeast efficiency and larger-scale production could cut costs, with possible uses extending to submarines, disaster zones and broader food-and-plastic waste pressures on Earth.