this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2025
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Fungi: mycelia, mushrooms & more

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Waste-eating mushrooms digest plastic & become ingredient to make chocolate protein bars (www.designboom.com)
submitted 1 month ago by solo@slrpnk.net to c/fungus@slrpnk.net
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the Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) digests PET plastic, often found in bottles and packaging; the Turkey Tail Mushroom (Trametes versicolor) eats LDPE plastic, commonly used in grocery bags; and the Split Gill Mushroom (Schizophyllum commune) dissolves PUR plastic, used in foams and coatings. These fungi convert plastic molecules into simple carbon-based compounds. After decomposition, they leave no toxic waste behind, and the result is clean, organic matter suitable for cultivation and food production.

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[–] NaibofTabr 15 points 1 month ago (10 children)

Processing PET is a big deal, it's the primary polymer for a lot of plastic bottles, bags, wraps, and clamshell packages. Being able to biodegrade those things would make a real dent in plastic waste.

But... PET is also used in things like electrical wiring insulation. Assuming this can eventually be scaled up to industrial waste processing, what prevents it from spreading out into the world and destroying infrastructure?

[–] stabby_cicada@slrpnk.net 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Or spreading out into the world and eating microplastics in the soil. Think positive!

[–] NaibofTabr 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I prefer risk management to hopium.

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