Mycelium Composites and their Biodegradability: An Exploration on the Disintegration of Mycelium-Based Materials in Soil

In the search for environmentally friendly materials, mycelium composites have been labelled as high potential bio-based alternatives to fossil-based and synthetic materials in various fields. Mycelium-based materials are praised for their biodegradability, however no scientific research nor standard protocols exist to substantiate this claim. This research therefore aims to develop an appropriate experimental methodology as well as to deliver a novel proof of concept of the material’s biodegradability. The applied methodology was adapted from a soil burial test under predefined laboratory conditions and hands-on preliminary experiments. The mycelium composite samples were placed in a nylon netting and then buried in potting soil with a grain size of 2 mm for different time-intervals ranging between one and sixteen weeks. Results showed that mycelium, which acted as the binder, had the tendency to decompose first. A weight loss of 43% was witnessed for inert samples made of the fungal strain Ganoderma resinaceum and hemp fibres after sixteen weeks. The disintegration rate in this method however depended on various parameters which were related to the material’s composition, its production method and the degradation process which involved the used equipment, materials and environmental properties.