The Power of Mycelium
The use of plastics has transformed our everyday lives in the past 100 years and is one of the biggest chemical success stories of the 20th century. As we well know it comes with a huge downside, a 300 million ton per year production of materials that take forever to decompose and are choking the planet. Only 10% of plastics are recycled.
It is almost impossible to imagine a world without plastic, yet many companies are working hard to invent a sustainable alternative.
Yeast
Fermentation has been discovered around 10,000 years ago. From liquid fermentation (beer and spirits) to solid-state fermentation (cheese and bread) this technology helped put humanity on a rapidly accelerating path of evolution.
Around three decades ago another big leap happened. The scientists produced the first biosynthetic insulin using E. coli as a single-celled manufacturing plant. This revolutionary discovery, the idea that we can use bacteria and yeast to synthesize novel compounds, is one of the most powerful discoveries of the past 100 years.
Mycelium
If you have come across an amazing film Fantastic Fungi, you might have been mesmerised by the incredible power of mycelium. Mycelium is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. The underground network provides nutrients not only to mushrooms but also to trees. It also serves as an information network for the interchange of electrical signals between organisms. A mycelium may form a colony that is too small to see or may grow to span thousands of acres as one giant organism.
Implications in the industry
Our attempts to emulate nature's structure-building capacity have thus far depended on 20th-century technologies with which we ended up with products that are far inferior to nature's originals—pleather versus leather, particleboard versus wood and synthetic textiles, to name a few. Without nature's capacity for micro-assembly, the best properties of natural materials are lost.
Enter mycelium. Unlike most yeast cells, mycelium is multicellular and can grow into macro-size structures, which we most often recognize as mushrooms. Mycelium excretes enzymes that break down materials from sources such as wood or plant waste, and thus grows and assembles a dense network of long, microscopic fibres.
At the right stage, humans can intervene by controlling temperature, CO2, humidity and airflow to influence tissue growth and prevent a mushroom's growth. As quickly as within a week a 45cm-by-2cm-by-30cm (18-by-2-by-12-inch) sheet weighing a kilogram can be produced.
Mushroom packaging
Mushroom packaging could be an alternative to some styrofoam and plastic packaging. Mycelium acts like a binder and can be mixed with wood chips, oat hulls, cotton burrs, or hemp hurds (interior spongy part of a hemp plant) to form a structure that can be then 3D printed into any shape.
This is not a theory, companies like the New York-based Ecovative have already produced 5 million pounds of this type of packaging in the past few years and licenced their formula to companies in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
This material can last up to 30 years in dry environments and is 100% biodegradable and a nutrient for soil and plants. If broken down into small 1cm pieces it will decompose in just 45 days. In the ocean, it will decompose in 180 days.
Other uses
Architects and engineers have been experimenting with building various shapes and structures out of this material. Although one of the downsides of this material is the lack of durability, this can also be its great advantage. For building short-term structures like Olympic villages, expos and emergency housing, this biodegradable solution could be sustainable, cheap and visually interesting.
Mycelium insulation panels have been shown to outperform traditional insulation panels like rock wool and fibreglass although the lifespan of this product is a concern. Ripping it out and replacing it every 20 years might not be the best solution after all.
Leather-like material made out of mycelium has been used to produce jackets, backpacks, and footwear. Make-up sponges, face masks and even coffins are excellent alternatives to the existing options. Even plant-based meat has been produced.
Pros and cons
Mycelium-based products are an excellent example of a sustainable, circular economy product. They are non-toxic and free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde. They consume a tenth of the energy of foam and emit eight of the amount of greenhouse gases. The material is naturally water resistant, although continuous exposure to moisture will lead to mould. Lastly, these materials are also a class A fire retardant with a very low flame spread of 20 (out of 200).
On the other hand, the material is not very strong so it can’t be used as a long-term structural material, especially because it has a short life span of around 20-30 years.
The few companies that produce it have patented the process which is a barrier to entry. The super low-cost production of plastic and its ability to hold water and last longer is unfortunately a huge deterrent to the future of this technology.
Conclusion
Humankind needs to find ways to get ourselves out of the mess we've created. Our world is an ecosystem maintained by self-assembling organisms. Biological technology is the most powerful technology we have access to and with this knowledge, we have the power to steer, repair and rebuild the stressed yet faithful organism we call nature.
Hopefully, raising awareness and offering alternative solutions to plastic will enable people to seek more sustainable solutions and force the industry to provide alternative, future-friendly solutions.
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-mycelium-revolution-is-upon-us/