Oyster mushrooms expected to break down toxins and microplastics in cigarette butts in Australian trial

Melbourne-based Fungi Solutions has spent years training mushrooms to consume cigarette butts, mimicking a process that occurs naturally in the wild. Photograph: Nancy Nehring/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Up to 1.2m cigarette butts could be consumed by oyster mushrooms that break down toxins and microplastics as part of a trial funded by the Victorian government.

Up to 9bn plastic cigarette butts are discarded in Australia each year, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, seeping harmful microplastics and chemicals such as arsenic into waterways and soil.