What’s Been Done MycoComposite™ by Evocative MycoComposite is a 100% home compostable packaging alternative to synthetic foams like styrofoam developed by the Ecovative company (Ecovative Design, 2014). The composite is made by inoculating liquid mushroom mycelium that has been dried, into a substrate of agricultural waste such as hemp hurds, chopped up corn stalks and seed husks. The mycelium mixture is then dehydrated, placed into a plastic mould, as seen in figure 8 , where the mycelium binds the agricultural waste together to create a lightweight form (Manton, M 2015).
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Once the mycelium has consumed the substrate the design is then heat treated to stabilise the final shape and to stop the fungi from growing and flowering. Ecovative’s packaging has now gone mainstream with big companies like IKEA and other Fortune 500 companies starting to adopt its packaging for their products. (Redaktion, D, 2016) Ecovative also sells a ‘grow your own’ product where you can buy the dried mycelium and substrate material (annoyingly packaged in plastic as seen in Figure 10) and to mould and use however you wish!
