Does fungi hold the key to our sustainable future?

Are fungi the future? A question many people may dismiss without further thought, too broad for some never to answer, however recent research may point towards the answer being a simple 'yes'.

Fungi are incredible organisms responsible for not only being a nutritious addition to the human diet, but also for breaking down organic material from the fallen leaves and branches in our gardens, to dead animals and organic food waste – giving way for their deserved title ‘nature’s recyclers’. These hardy and persistent gifts from nature could just be the solution to many of our current environmental problems.

The humble fungi.

In 1950 Earth’s population was 2.5 billion, with 1.5 million tons of plastic being manufactured. In 2021 the population had reached over 7.5 billion, and our plastic production was more than 367 million tonnes. Almost one third of that was due to single use plastics, what was recycled equaled less than ten percent and the remainder was incinerated, ended up in landfill or was uncollected, with an estimated total of 8 million tonnes finding its way to seas and ocean from rivers and drains.

We are in no doubt in desperate need of more sustainable practices and eco friendly measures, especially according to estimates that by 2025 plastic will outnumber fish. Plastic is not our only environmental worry, but it is something we might be able to tackle permanently with the modest, yet mighty fungi family.

Within the last few years alone there have been over fifty species of fungi found that ‘eat’ plastic In 2011 students at Yale university discovered a fungus in Ecuador (Pestalotiopsis microspore) which has the incredible capacity to eat and absorb plastic containing polyurethane plastic. This particular fungus also possessed the ability to do this in anaerobic surroundings meaning this process could be done in landfills or any other environment where plastics are buried underground. This research began the journey into edible mushrooms mycelium (the network of hyphae) breaking down plastic and growing into new edible mushrooms.

Fungi nomming some plastic.

Plastic eradication isn’t the only way fungi might be our future, many companies have recently incorporated the use of mycelium technology for packaging, a great example of this is Ikea, their new packaging which was introduced in 2019 is made from MycoComposite - a natural, mycelium based that is durable but also compostable (however this has not yet reached all countries - Australia is still waiting).

The various benefits of mycelium composites include having a low environmental impact and carbon footprint, cost of reproduction and upkeep is low, they have a low density, reduced energy consumption is nowhere near the level of other material production and perhaps most importantly, they are able to biodegrade.

All of these benefits point towards them being an extremely important material in our future.

Due to its ability to be easily manipulated into any shape, structures of mycelium are also being experimented with to ‘grow around’ other structures to make new ones, such as cups, vases and chairs - replacing other materials like plastic, rubber, wood and leather.

Mycellium vases!

Mushroom leather has already hit the shelves in the form of shoes and bags (an environmental and vegan alternative to leather and/or plastic). Further afield research is also being conducted into the flame retardant properties of mycelium - could this be the future of properties in fire prone areas?

There are also studies underway that are investigating the future of ‘moon houses’ made from mycelium – structures that can self repair and self replicate. Although moon houses are a long way into our future and perhaps not as important as healing the planet we have damaged so badly, it is yet another example that begs the question – are fungi the future?