No, You Won’t Turn Into a ‘Last of Us’ Zombie With Packaging Made From Fungus

Mushrooms aren’t just for eating, and unlike those in the hit HBO series "The Last of Us," this fungi won’t try to eat you.

An Australian start-up company called Fungi Solutions is “growing” packaging to be used for products.

It all begins with organic waste that would normally end up in landfill. Data from the Australian Packaging Covenant Organization says people are only recycling about 54% of consumer packaging.

"So, it feels like polystyrene and cardboard had a baby,” Amanda Morgan, Fungi Solutions co-founder told reporters. "This process starts with our mycelium culture which is then introduced to our organic waste, packed into our molds and then grown to form in seven days."

Trash plus Fungus equals compostable packaging, but some of that trash is really gross.

"This is our adapted species of mycelium that's been trained to grow on cigarette butts,” Morgan said.

The fungi-based material could change the market.

"With the help of mycelium we can revolutionize waste,” said Camden Cooke, the Fungi Solutions founder.

Instead of ending the world like in “The Last of Us,” fungus might just help save it.

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