Replacement of fungi-filled plastic foam plastics by fungi

[China Packaging Network News] Plastic raw materials come from petroleum, but with the development of science and technology, many plastic companies have developed and made plants into plastics. The American Sealed Air Corporation has begun to use fungal mycelia to produce innovative packaging.

This package is made from inoculated agricultural waste, such as oat hulls with fungal mycelium.

Mycelia feed on the substrate of oat hulls and grows in large areas to form intricate, intertwined networks. The composition is heated to kill the mycelium and then melted to form a plastic-like hard material. Sealed Air has reopened its plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and will use the technology developed by Ecovative Design in New York Green Island to produce the hyphae composite packaging - Restore Mushroon Packaging. Solar is also the only authorized manufacturer of protective packaging for Ecovative Design in North America.

It is said that this package can replace foamed plastics such as PS, PP and PE. Different organic substrates and different types of fungi grown in the matrix determine the final properties of this bio-based composite. Its target markets include protective packaging, automotive parts, construction materials, shoes and floral foams.

Bio-based plastics have always been unable to achieve mass production due to high costs. "Ecovative makes a subversive concept a reality - producing cost-effective bio-based plastics," explains Eben Bayer, CEO of Ecovative.

According to the editors of China Packaging Network, bioplastic materials are considered in recent years, such as using sugar cane as a raw material to produce plastic bottles, but such materials have a high comprehensive cost, and biological materials are suspected of competing with humans for food. It has never been appreciated, but this new type of plastic packaging produced with hyphae is basically a waste, and the cost is also relatively low. It is very suitable for promotion in the plastic bottle industry and is also considered to be a good news for manufacturers.