Growing Remediation: Mycelium, Plastic Waste, and Interdisciplinary Design

Abstract

Mankind has complex interactions with plastic, characterized by our dependence on and use of it, often deceptively easy and short-lived, followed by its inconvenient longevity. The spiraling accumulation of ubiquitous waste, threatening all ecosystems and our health, poses one of the greatest challenges of our time, which many people try to ignore because of its enormity. This problem prompted my two-stage research into remediation, remedying or reversing the environmental damage caused by plastic. Firstly, adopting a deductive approach, I undertook a scientific experiment exploring the biodegradation potential of the thin polyethylene (PE) lining on paper cups achieved by mycelium. Secondly, through inductive methods, I developed a way of communicating my findings and their wider context to the non-scientific community through a illustrated book for a general audience, to empower and encourage small-scale positive action. Science, as commonly practiced, operates within an anthropocentric paradigm grounded in the belief that human reasoning is the primary means of understanding reality. Because science is designed by humans, it reflects human logic, values, and interests. Biodesign has emerged as an alternative epistemology, a theory of knowledge without the boundaries and limitations of the traditional scientific framework. My interdisciplinary research and design, drawing not just from science but from nature, poetry, philosophy, art, and other disciplines, worked towards emergence from small-scale intentional action contributing to broader ecological transformation. Without understanding how individual actions connect to wider collaborative systems, speculative environmental design risks remaining idealistic or utopian. Rather than focusing solely on my own work, I highlighted the relationships and connections formed throughout this study, situating them within a global community striving to develop innovative solutions to sustain life on Earth. I aimed to demonstrate how collaboration with microorganisms, particularly fungi, can help address plastic pollution. Driven by non-human, fungal intelligence, this investigation demonstrated the opportunities of looking to existing mechanisms in nature to guide our response to the ecological crisis, as well as to build resilience and adaptability, striving to reconnect people disengaged from the plastic crisis. My laboratory skills were gained at a biodesign course (Fabricademy Brussels) and at my current workplace, Sapro-Tech, a company producing bio-polymer textile materials. PE-lined paper cup pieces on agar plates were inoculated with three fungal strains (Trametes versicolor, Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus pulmonarius) and compared with controls. Macroscopic and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination revealed deterioration of the PE-lining. This allows hope for a post‑anthropocene future, in which synthetic materials no longer dominate ecological systems. Interestingly, Pleurotus pulmonarius flaked PE as well as Pleurotus ostreatus, which so far had the best supportive data for biodegradation in the literature. This merits future study. Throughout my project, I observed, listened, learned, and reflected on our complex relationship with plastic, our behavioral economics and the power of storytelling. I then translated my research journey using illustrative watercolour art and non-scientific language, compiled into the tactile form of a watercoloured illustrated book for a general audience titled A Future with Fungi. This seeks to communicate with people disengaged from the realities of plastic via environmental storytelling, effecting positive change.