International plastic waste has greater than doubled, and 40 p.c of that waste comes from packaging. Fortunately there aren’t any scarcity of sustainable packaging startups in Europe. Simply have a look: Circleback (Germany), Recup (Germany), Sourceful (UK), one • 5 (Germany), Shellworks (UK), Woola (Estonia), Papkot (France), Biotic (Israel), FunCell (France) and Traceless (Germany).
The newest to affix these ranks is Magical Mushroom Firm (MMC). It’s now raised a £3m Seed spherical led by Ecovative Design LLC with participation by Dale Vince, founding father of Ecotricity – a inexperienced vitality firm within the UK; Robert Del Naja (activist); and Marcus Watson, co-founder of Adoreum Companions, who introduced 30 different buyers.
The funding shall be used to fund the opening of its first uncooked materials manufacturing plant.
MMC’s answer is a direct substitute for plastic-based packaging equivalent to polystyrene and cardboard. It does this by combining agricultural waste with mycelium – the foundation construction of a mushroom. The consequence, claims the corporate, is biodegradable (in 45 days), sturdy and comparable in value to conventional packaging derived from fossil fuels like polystyrene.
Launched in 2019, MMC’s shoppers embrace Raymarine, BA Parts, Castrads, Ffern, Selfridges, Lush, Seedlip and ID Watch amongst many others.
Paul Gilligan, CEO & founder at Magical Mushroom Firm, stated in an announcement: “We’ve got simply eight years to satisfy the UN’s Sustainable Improvement Targets and companies have a vital function to play – however they want viable and cost-effective options that considerably scale back the carbon footprint throughout their complete provide chain. We’re proud to be creating worth from waste and unlocking the potential of mycelium.”