Replacing plastic

Fungi could not just help rid the planet of plastic by degrading it, but by making it obsolete it, too. Research in the Kew report suggests that naturally made materials using fungal mycelia are being used increasingly often instead of more harmful materials such as polystyrene and leather.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Trichoderma fungus can turn waste crops into fuel. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Generating biofuels

Fungi can also lend a hand in turning agricultural waste into useful fuels. According to research published in the Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy journal, certain species of the fungi Trichoderma have the power to break down waste crops into sugars that, using yeast, are then turned into useful ethanol fuel.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A piece of plastic broken down by Aspergillus tubingensis. Photograph: Courtesy: Sehroon Khan

‘Plastic-eating’ fungus

The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew’s recent State of the World’s Fungi report revealed that a strain of fungus could help combat the damage our huge buildups of plastic waste are doing to the planet. Scientists in Islamabad discovered that the Aspergillus tubingensis variety could break down plastic far quicker than the decades it takes for the material to decompose naturally.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cellulase enzymes speed up the process of making paper. Photograph: Alamy

Making paper green

Recycling paper is all well and good, but how we produce that paper has an environmental impact, too. According to the Unesco-IHE Institute for Water Education, making a single sheet of A4 uses up to an astonishing 13 litres of water. The fungi Trichoderma and Humicola speed up the process and thereby save water, according to the Advances in Enzyme Research journal and the Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Aspergillus can remove bleach from the water used in cotton production. Photograph: Alamy/Alamy Stock Photo

Curbing cotton contamination

Processing cotton isn’t all that environmentally friendly, but the Aspergillus fungus can make it greener. Research in The Mycota book series’ Industrial Applications into fungal enzymes says that using catalase enzymes from the fungi can break down the excess bleach in the waste water from the process, thereby making it less harmful.