The UK's University of Nottingham has secured £1.4m ($1.9m) to head a two-year research project developing mycelium composites as non-petrochemical alternatives to expanded polystyrene (EPS) in protective and transit packaging.
Funded through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Materials Innovation Partnerships programme, the venture combines academic teams from the University of Nottingham, Swansea University, and the University of Bath with commercial manufacturer Magical Mushroom Company (MMC).
EPS is currently the sector benchmark for transit cushioning due to its shock attenuation and minimal mass.
The vegetative filament structure of fungi, mycelium functions as a natural binding agent, converting agricultural plant fibres into rigid, moulded shapes during cultivation.
The consortium will assess how fungal strains, raw substrate variations, and curing conditions can be adjusted to raise strength-to-weight ratios and limit property deviations across production runs.
To meet operational logistics demands, the academic teams are tasked with formulating fluorine-free surface modifications.
These barrier layers must counter moisture absorption, surface abrasion, and fungal decay in non-climate-controlled storage without disrupting the final material's end-of-life biodegradability.
Subsequent mechanical evaluations will document how internal cellular architectures handle shock absorption, cyclic mechanical loading, and moisture exposure.
These baseline metrics will categorise which formulations suit specific packaging applications.
Commercial trials will occur under operational conditions at MMC’s manufacturing site in Beeston, Nottinghamshire.
MMC, which assisted in designing the research roadmap, will oversee technical translation across all four project phases.
MMC currently produces Mushroom Packaging at the Beeston plant for commercial clients, including Raymarine, and maintains a technical unit that includes two MSc holders and an MEng graduate from the University of Nottingham.
Plant trials will monitor batch-to-batch variation, line speeds, defect levels, power consumption, and production overheads to calculate scale-up viability for commercial packaging supply chains.
