How can we be sure that mycelium-based materials have a low environmental impact?

As part of the MY-FI project, SPIN 360 assesses the environmental impact of the most promising mycelium-based materials produced by the project partners.

Among the different possible methods, SPIN 360 employs the Life Cycle Assessment, taking into account 16 impact categories, as established by the EF 3.0 methodology, suggested by the Joint Research Center and the European Commission.

The Life Cycle Assessment allows to assess the environmental impact of a product or service in all phases of its life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials to its end of life.

In the case of mycelium-based materials produced under the MY-FI project, the use of LCA is particularly useful and relevant to evaluate the impact of different processes and “recipes”. The results will be employed to guide the technical partners, helping them to choose the most promising production processes in terms of environmental sustainability.

With an experience of over 500 Life Cycle Assessment studies, SPIN 360 was able to carry out a preliminary LCA of mycelium raw material, produced using the Surface liquid fermentation protocol.

Some categories of data will have to be further deepened in order to improve data quality, but the first results are promising, considering that the scale up will further optimize resource consumption.

In the next months, SPIN360 will calculate the LCA of mycelium-based raw materials produced with the dynamic liquid fermentation protocol, to then assess the impact of post-processing and manufacturing processes.