Packing With Shrooms, Not Styrofoam

Recycled cardboard is a decent replacement for styrofoam packaging, but what about heavy items that need stronger protection? A company called Ecovative Design is banking on mushroom roots.

"We should make products that fit into nature's recycling system," Ecovative Design cofounder and CEO Eben Bayer told the Greener Gadgets Conference audience. The company, located in Green Island, New York, uses mushroom roots called mycelia to grow packaging. Bayer told me that his business partner, Gavin McIntyre, originally grew samples under his bed.

Their EcoCradle packaging borrows its "nanotech" process from filamentous fungi. The mycelia, which are smaller than a human hair, surround and eat agricultural waste like buckwheet hulls. After about a week or so, tons of tiny white fibers appear. The material is then dried to halt the growing process, creating packaging with impressive durability that is also biodegradable and compostable. Ecovative envisions production sites across the nation that incorporate local agricultural byproducts to cut down on trucking materials.

Unlike starch packing peanuts, Ecovative's material can be molded into custom shapes. And, unlike some bioplastics, the material doesn't require food crops. Bayer says that the EcoCradle price is competitive with styrofoam because the denser the foam, the more oil required, making it more expensive to produce.

EcoCradle packaging isn't just a cool idea. The company built a factory in upstate New York and currently has plans with two Fortune 500 companies to make their packaging this spring. Eventually, Bayer would like to edge out styrofoam entirely. Maybe they can work out a deal with street vendors here in the city next.

Photo: EcoCradle packaging is grown using mushroom roots. Credit: Ecovative Design.