That headline may be the future, but it’s unlikely that the seller will be calling out the ingredients in their wurst, a product infamously known as a dumping ground for abattoir leftovers.

One leftover from our society is mountains of plastics waste, and some of it could soon wind up slathered in mustard, or ketchup, depending on one’s proclivity: German chemicals and pharmaceuticals producer Merck (Darmstadt; www.merck.de) said it has awarded a grant of up to EUR 1m to two US researchers trying to turn plastics into food. Merck said the researchers “are working with bacteria that naturally break down plastics into protein. Their immediate goal is to further their work on communities that can process polyethylene terephthalate”. Once the issue of the slow growth rate of the plastics-transmuting microbes is whipped, the pair plans to move on to other types of resins.

So, how would you like your water-bottle steak cooked? Medium-well?

Now that’s recycling!