Mycelium for Sustainable Packaging

How far can fungi take sustainable materials?

In this three-part series, we speak with Alexandre LeBlond, a master’s student in chemical engineering at McGill University, about his groundbreaking research using mycelium, the root-like structure of fungi, to create sustainable alternatives to traditional packaging and construction materials. In each episode, we cover:

Part 1
The environmental challenges posed by styrofoam and plastic, how mycelium could replace them, and the early experiments Alex and his fellow lab members are running to grow biodegradable packaging materials at scale.

Part 2
The innovative techniques Alex and his team use, from microfluidics to internal gelation to optimize mycelium growth, improve consistency, and speed up production for real-world applications.

Part 3
Future direction and topics of interest, such as: using SPG emulsification to create uniform mycelium beads; remote rehydration for on-site construction, and even probing the “intelligence” of brain-sized mycelium structures with EEG experiments.

So whether you’re passionate about sustainability, bioengineering, or the future of living materials, this series is for you.