Do you think that the current technology for mushroom based packaging could eventually help get rid of plastics?

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Ive read a lot in recent years about mushroom based packaging and for those that dont know about it, its biodegradable packaging made using mushroom roots which are called mycellium.

The biggest uptake on this to date is Ikea who has started using it to replace polystyrene packaging which is possibly the worst material ecologically invented by man, so this has to be a good thing, but I have to wonder why its not had a bigger effect on the packaging despite it being invented and developed a number of years ago.

The simple answer to this is I cant find any good reason why it shouldnt take over from polystyrene, apart from the fact it takes quite of lot of space to grow in sufficient quantities but yield is something scientists are currently working on.

Not only can it be used for packaging, but it has possible uses in architecture and construction too, albeit to a slightly different composition.

There is nothing but upsides as far as I can see, and the more I read, the exciting it looks.

It bio-degrades in a matter of days, requires a lot less energy to produce than traditional packaging materials and isnt reliant on fossil fuels or wastes too many natural resources in its production.

Win-win all round.

Great question leading me to a very interesting discovery for which Im going to do a lot more reading!

For further information, have a read of this :-)

https://medium.com/wedonthavetime/ikea-starts-using-biodegradable-mushroom-based-packaging-for-its-products-42d079f98bb1