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“An innovative eco-friendly approach for replacement of styrofoam through

mushroom based packaging materials”

Conference Paper · January 2017

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 “An innovative eco-friendly approach for replacement of styrofoam through
mushroom based packaging materials”
Rahul Singh Rajput1*, Jyoti Singh2, Jagjeet Singh1, Prachi Singh1
1Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences,
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
2Department of Botany, Institute of Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.

*Corresponding author email: rahulsinghr829@gmail.com

Introduction
In past few decades, introduction of plastic was change in the scenario of packing industry in terms of easy, fast and safe
movement of goods, but also led to a new big problem for our environment. The current consumption of plastics at global level is
more than 220 million tonnes. They are quite difficult to recycle or reuse and non-biodegradable due to mixed levels of complex
composites which are toxic to the environment. Therefore, our current need to replace these packaging material with a plastic which
can be more eco-friendly to our environment. Using the roots (mycelium) of mushrooms, we can turn agricultural organic
waste materials like paddy straw, unused corn stalks and saw dust that would normally either be composted or thrown out– into
packing materials. Mushroom mycelium act like a glue which bind the particles of farm waste to make foam that settles in a mold
which shape these to a kind of packaging that protects expensive transport materials like instruments, equipments, furniture and
electronic parts during shipping. The strength of our products comes from the mycelium, which consists of millions of tiny fibres and
the fibres bond with chitin – a natural plastic produced by mushrooms. The best part of this approach is, its eco-friendly and
economical quality and it consumes only one-tenth the energy which is used to manufacture foam packaging.

Problems due to Styrofoam's- Styrofoam v/s Mushroom packing materials

General procedure for making packing materials Various materials make by this process -

Mycelium fully
Agriculture Fungal mycelium grow within 14-
waste grow in straw 16 days

Incubated at Remove from

Sterilization room temp (28- the moulds
process 30ºc)

Inoculate with
Mushroom Sterilize and use
spawn for packing and
Fill into Moulds other purposes

Benefits against styrofoam

1. Environment friendly
2. Cost effective
3. Heat resistant
4. Long durability
5. Biodegradable
Mushroom-Based Packaging Uses 98% Less Energy than Styrofoam
6. No toxic waste
Biofabrication gives high strength to materials for durability
References:-
1. http://news.softpedia.com/news/SelfGrowingPackagingMaterialCreated149437. shtml
2. http://www.theguardian.com/sustainablebusiness/mushroomsnewplastic
3. Petkewich, R. (2003). "Technology Solutions: Microbes manufacture plastic from food waste". Environmental Science &
Technology 37: 175.
4. Dana Gopal, N. M., Phebe, P., Kumar, E. S., & Vani, B. K. K. Impact of plastic leading environmental pollution. Journal of
Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences ISSN, 974, 2115.
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