This Newly Discovered Mushroom Can Eat Plastic, Time to Save the World?

A mushroom that can eat plastic? Where’s Peter Griffin adamantly screaming “Why are we not funding this!?” when you need him?

It’s called pestalotiopsis microspora, and it’s a fungi discovered by a group of Yale researchers on an expedition in Ecuador. Could this mean we’re on track to finally begin the lessening of the Earth’s plastic excess?

According to a Yale study and recap from ABC/Yahoo News, our planet is on a plastic production frenzy. Plastic can be recycled, but for the most part, it just turns into another product, never being eradicated from the planet. We’ve reportedly produced 245 million tons of plastic in 2006, compared to a relatively measly 1.5 million tons in 1950.

What’s most interesting is that it can subsist on polyurethane (combines the best properties of both rubber and plastic) alone in airless environments. Maybe throw a few pestalotiopsis microspora in that recycle bin? Or how about into the dark crevices of a landfill?

I wonder how long it takes for the mushroom to feast on a trashed Evian bottle? Do you think it puts it in its mouth like a corn dog, or just sucks on it for months at a time getting all those delicious members of hydroxyl and isocyanate functional groups into its system?

Another entity, Ecovative, is a group of college friends who discovered that the sticky substance on the bottom of mushrooms could be turned into a glue. That same glue can be combined with corn husks and other food byproducts to take on a form similar to polystyrene foam.

Less plastic, more mulch? Looks like mushrooms might be doing some serious Superman leg lifting these next few years.