As India bans single-use plastic, a look at biodegradable mushroom packaging

On 1 July, India banned single-use plastic – items used only once before they are thrown away or recycled – such as plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles and most food packaging.

And for good reason.

At this point, the adverse effects of plastic – especially single-use or disposably plastic which never breaks down completely – on our oceans, our soil and our environment are well known.

Now, one UK company claims to have come up with an alternative – mushroom packaging.

Let’s take a closer look:

As per The Federal, UK-based Magical Mushroom Company (MMC), which began operations in 2019, has come up with this solution to replace plastic-based packaging. It said mushroom packaging is a “cost-effective and scalable natural alternative”.

What is it?

As per the report, the mushroom packaging is a mix of Mycelium, which has a natural polymer Chitin with agricultural waste. It is a direct replacement for fossil fuel-based packaging such as Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), Polyethylene (PE) Foam, Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) Foam, and also, Packaging inserts (die-cut).

As per Techcrunch, the company says the product is biodegradable (it takes 45 days), durable and comparable in price to traditional packaging derived from fossil fuels like polystyrene.

How does it work?

As per IndiaTimes, the start-up mixes agricultural waste with the “root structure of a mushroom” in order to make a biodegradable material that is similar to other packaging options in terms of cost.

“Mushrooms are the fruit of a giant underground ‘tree’. The tree is Mycelium, which grows exponentially under the correct conditions providing nutrients to forest fauna in exchange for sugars. Mycelium itself is made of Chitin, a natural glue that is water-resistant and flame retardant To make Mushroom Packaging we mix Mycelium, which has a natural polymer Chitin with agricultural by-products. We use the woody core of Hemp in 98 per cent of our products. Hemp has the added benefit of locking up carbon dioxide at the rate of about 15 tonnes per hectare. Hemp isn’t the only answer though – we can work with a wide variety of natural by-products from wheat to sawdust,” the company explained.

“It can be added to food waste, broken down and dispersed in the garden, even mixed with seeds to grow wildflowers. When kept in dry conditions, it has a shelf life of 30 years,” the company was quoted as saying by The Federal.

“A large and ever-growing selection of companies across multiple industries have ditched plastic in favour of our Mushroom Packaging. We have delivered 500,000 pieces of Mushroom Packaging solutions since our launch. And with our production capability ramping up as new factories in Nottingham and Sofia come online, our capacity has grown to 100,000 units per week (based on average unit size).”

About the company

MMC has raised ?3 million in seed money led by Ecovative Design LLC with participation by Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity (a green energy company in the UK); Robert Del Naja (activist); and Marcus Watson, co-founder of Adoreum Partners, who brought 30 other investors, as per Techcrunch.

It counts Raymarine, BA Components, Castrads, Ffern, Selfridges, Lush, Seedlip and ID Watch, among many others as clients.

Paul Gilligan, CEO and founder at Magical Mushroom Company, said in a statement: “We have just eight years to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and businesses have a crucial role to play – but they need viable and cost-effective solutions that significantly reduce the carbon footprint across their entire supply chain. We’re proud to be creating value from waste and unlocking the potential of mycelium.”

With inputs from agencies

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