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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Linda Geddes

‘Nature’s original engineers’: scientists explore the amazing potential of fungi

A psathyrella mushroom
Initiatives like the Future is Fungi Awards say fungi may be the key to tackling some of the planet’s most urgent environmental challenges. Photograph: vexedart/Alamy

From the outside, it looks like any ordinary nappy – one of the tens of billions that end up in landfill each year. But the Hiro diaper comes with an unusual companion: a sachet of freeze-dried fungi to sprinkle over a baby’s gloopy excretions.

The idea is to kickstart a catalytic process that could see the entire nappy – plastics and all – broken down into compost within a year.

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