From mushroom cultivation to biodegradable packaging production

Permafungi is a Brussels mushroom farm established in 2014 by six idealists. They began to collect coffee grounds by bike from the capital's bistros and restaurants which were used to grow oyster mushrooms in the cellars of Tours & Taxis. This project is part of a circular economy based on short supply chains, with customers in the hospitality industry attracted by a local product which, ten years on, is proving profitable and sustainable.

Always driven by their strong environmental convictions, the idea to make packaging the company's flagship product had also been taking shape for years. They devised a process based on organic waste - in this case, sterile sawdust. This is mixed in a mould with mycelium (the vegetative part of a fungus composed of fungal filaments) and after about a week, forms a unique structure.

With myco-materials offering a biodegradable and environmentally friendly alternative to polystyrene and plastic, Permafungi has decided to put all its energy into this biobased packaging sector. With the packaging sector alone accounting for one third of global plastic pollution, this choice has proved all the more astute, as the European ban on non-circular packaging is set to come into force by 2030.

Today, this Belgian expertise is attracting investors from Switzerland and Brussels seeking to develop the new production site that has recently opened in the municipality of Forest, and which is considered the largest of its kind in Europe. This fast-growing Brussels-based company aims to produce 100 cubic metres of these myco-materials every month.

In Belgium, ecological initiatives are literally springing up like mushrooms!