Mushroom Materials, a New Zealand-based startup, is seeking to upend the expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam market with an innovative bio-centric material that mixes agricultural or any other organic waste with the core ingredient of mycelium, the rootlike structure of fungi commonly associated with mushrooms. The mycelium forms only a small proportion of the product, which can also contain composted food, hemp, straw or even wood chips.
The organic material are blended with the mycelium, which grows and binds everything together like a natural adhesive. This is followed by a heat treatment step to cure the material and apply a biopolymer coating to form something akin to EPS beads or pellets. A major bonus is that these pellets can be formed with conventional EPS compression-molding presses.
Mushroom Materials plans to construct pilot plant in Auckland, New Zealand, by the end of the year. R&D operations are also located in NZ but the company's HQ has been shifted to Singapore, which is located centrally to where 80–90% of the market for EPS packaging is. The company also plans to start constructing a larger, commercial plant in Southeast Asia in around 18 months' time.
The original story was published by New Zealand-based publication BusinessDesk here (paywall-protected).
Comments