Circular Economy

These Startups Are Mycoremediating Impacts of the Building Industry

Mycocycle and Mogu are harnessing mycelium to transform industrial waste into resilient, circular materials for the construction sector.

By Nina Purton | Published 2 months ago | About a 5 minute read

Image: Mogu's Pluma acoustic wall panels | ©Mogu srl

The construction industry produces about one-third of the world’s waste and 40 percent of global carbon emissions. Concrete and cement alone account for about eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs); yet the demand for the material has tripled over the past 20 years. And it’s not just weighing on natural environments: It turns out several coastal cities are sinking, thanks to the weight of their built landscape.

With an ever-growing population increasing demand for private and public buildings, how do we make our concrete jungles ‘greener’?

McKinsey estimates that adopting circular construction and maintenance practices in the built environment could generate €110 billion in net value for the economy and decarbonize about 80 percent of all cement and concrete emissions by 2050. Innovative startups are showing the possibilities are vast — with solutions ranging from hempcrete housing and waste wood to cement that captures CO2, to name a few.

And two biotech startups are developing solutions that suggest a concrete-free future might be just around the corner — or beneath our feet — by using mycelium to transform industrial waste into safe and sound materials for the construction industry.

Mycocycle

Image credit: Tobi Kellner

After decades of working as an environmental consultant and a sustainability leader for a manufacturer of commercial building products, Mycocyle founder Joanne Rodriguez was well aware of the negative impacts of chemicals used and disposed of in construction activities.

Following a course in permaculture design, a lightbulb turned on, Rodriguez told Sustainable Brands® (SB) — leading her to hire a mycologist to prove fungi could decompose asphalt materials, through a process known as mycoremediation. In 2018, she founded her nature-inspired biotech company in Illinois — and since then, she has been set on “solving man-made issues one mushroom at a time.”

“I've always taken inspiration from nature, as a practitioner of biomimicry and systems design,” Rodriguez explained. “By optimizing the natural functions of fungi, Mycocycle is able to transform waste to value while reducing greenhouse gases in the industrial materials supply chain.”

The brand sources waste including asphalt shingles, textiles and rubber from building owners and manufacturers, and places these inside the MYCOntainer — a mobile bioprocessor with a climate-controlled environment — where the mycelium spreads from a base substrate to the construction waste. After two weeks of incubation, Mycocycle’s experts are left with a brand-new fire- and water-resistant material that is also biodegradable. For every ton of waste, the company estimates it cuts CO2 emission by three metric tons. The company’s line of patent-pending mycelium-based products — MycoFILL, MycoFIBER and MyycoFOAM — can be used for everything from flooring, ceilings and concrete to furniture.

Rodriguez said her greatest challenge, apart from launching a company for the first time, was finding scientists who truly understood the business aspects of developing a first-of-a-kind technology. But after several years of rigorous research, Mycocycle has attracted over $3.7M in seed funding, was selected to take part in the Biomimicry Institute’s 2022 Ray of Hope Accelerator, and now enjoys over $800K in commercial contracts and anticipates exponential growth.

This June, the company announced a partnership with flooring giant Tarkett “to develop large-scale treatments of commercial flooring waste, as well as explore product development paths resulting in the reuse of ingredients from Tarkett’s waste and Mycocycle's process,” Rodriguez said. She added that the partnership will enable Mycocycle to expand its processing to service materials across the industry.

Mogu

Mogu’s Fields acoustic panels | Image credit: ©Mogu srl

Also inspired by mycelium’s power to transform waste into valuable, eco-friendly materials, Mogu specializes in circular flooring materials and acoustic and wall panels that are as practical as they are resilient. Its Foresta acoustic panel design system won the German Design Award’s Eco Design category in 2022.

Founded in 2015 in Italy by Maurizio Montalti, co-founder and Chief Mycelium Officer at SQIM — a leader in mycelium-based materials and Mogu’s holding company — Mogu strives to deliver products that are safe for people and nature alike.

“All materials undergo rigorous testing for allergenic compounds and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions in certified laboratories,” Paola Dengo, Mogu’s Marketing & Communication Manager, told SB.

The 100 percent plastic-free, biodegradable materials are forged from leftovers from the agricultural and food industries — including hemp hurds, cotton, lignin and oyster shells. “These residues provide an excellent nutrient base for mycelium growth and are typically abundant and underutilized, making them ideal for the production of our sustainable materials,” Dengo explained.

She shared that, to meet performance requirements, products such as FloorFlex incorporate low percentages of non-biological materials — which do not hinder decomposition but can slow down the process: “We are actively researching and developing new formulations to reduce our reliance on non-biological materials without compromising on quality and performance.”

The company boasts a wealth of partnerships ranging from design studios to fashion brands and major architectural firms such as Gensler.

“These collaborations allow us to integrate mycelium-based materials into diverse applications, demonstrating their versatility and sustainability,” Dengo said. “Through these partnerships, we aim to promote a broader adoption of eco-friendly materials across various sectors.”