into valuable products. In the US, Mycocycle - founded by Joanne Rodriguez - deploys fungi to digest and detoxify construction and industrial waste, converting hazardous streams into reusable materials. Such innovations exemplify upcycling, transforming environmental liabilities into new resources. This year Myceen (Estland) built a pavilion with sandwich panels with a mycelium core and currently measures the insulation performance. Price is an important aspect of building materials: the big question is how costs can be lowered to become competitive.
Mycelium applications were prominently featured a few years back, at the Floriade 2022 in The Netherlands. Here, floor lamps, wall and insulation panels and a mycelium chair were on display.
Acoustic & lifestyle There is a range of specific applications, which cannot all be mentioned here: - Frontrunner Mogu in Italy was already mentioned in the 2019 article: it has expanded its assortment with a range of different acoustic wall panels aiming for high end design markets. Many smaller companies like Mycolutions nowadays offer similar acoustic panels. Studio Cartier created acoustic mycelium paintings and started a mycelium startup in Dubai: SPORA. - Loop Biotech in the Netherlands offers mycelium coffins that break down quickly, returning nutrients to the soil. It recently acquired funding to expand internationally. - French startup KOZ (Bretagne) produces surfboards using mycelium composites, appealing to eco-conscious surfers. - Mycobuoys (US) has been working with floating objects, e.g. to support fishing nets. Again, the drawback is that mycelium’s rapid biodegradability reduces product longevity in humid or wet environments, unless additional treatment is applied.
The Loop Living Cocoon (and now also the EarthRise urn) by Loop Biotech - the world’s first biodegradable coffin made from mycelium, has attracted a lot of attention. The company is now expanding its business across Europe and the US.
India are leveraging local waste streams for low-impact packaging. While biodegradability is a strength, it is also a challenge: mycelium packaging is not ideal for long-term or outdoor uses without advanced protective coatings, as it can quickly degrade in wet or humid conditions. These innovations must also overcome hurdles in price, supply chain inertia, and matching the performance of conventional materials.
Building materials In construction, Visibuilt (Denmark) is developing mycelium-based pavements and asphalts, aiming for lower carbon footprints and circular designs. Circularity is intrinsic to mycelium’s appeal: it transforms waste
42 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
Sustainability Using biobased agricultural residues is obviously a strong environmental point of mycelium; with long term applications like insulation material, carbon credits can be obtained and help to make the business case. Energy use if one of the main factors in an Life cycle analysis of mycelium.
Spore.nl has developed a new energy-efficient bulk substrate production system with reduced energy input, which will be used in a new substrate company in Southern America. The trick is that dry orga- nic matter is heat treated in a mixer and cooled with sterilized water. Both heating and cooling are much more energy efficient and the process is faster as well. This substrate with a lower carbon foot print is now available in Europe. Outdoor applications are hampered by mycelium’s natural tendency to decompose. Without improved coatings or composite strategies, these materials are not yet viable for long-term
Photo: Loop Biotech.
Photo: Roel Dreve
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