Fungi-Based Insulation Emerges As Top Solution For Fast-Fashion Waste In Europe
As Europe gears up for compulsory separate textile collection from 2025, researchers from Latvia have identified fungi-based insulation made from mycelium, as the most promising pathway for reusing fast-fashion waste. The findings come from a comprehensive review of 27 studies evaluating alternative reuse strategies for unsorted and mixed textile waste, which continues to dominate clothing and home textile disposal across the EU.
The analysis assessed environmental, technical, economic and social factors, concluding that mycelium insulation offers the strongest overall potential. The material is produced by growing pleurotus pulmonarius mushrooms on a mixture of agro-industrial residues and ground textile waste. This approach is not only adaptable and scalable but also economically competitive compared with other recycling options.
Textile-reinforced composites for construction ranked second in the study, followed by recovery of fibres and intermediates such as cotton, spandex monomers, nylon and BHET, which could help close the recycling loop. Chemical recycling into bio-oil and terephthalic acid showed strong technical readiness but scored lower on environmental impact due to high emissions, according to a release from the European Commission.
These findings align closely with the EU’s broader sustainable textiles strategy, which aims to significantly increase textile recycling by the end of the decade. Proposed expansions of Extended Producer Responsibility will also push manufacturers to take greater responsibility for the full lifecycle of their products, adding urgency to the development of viable end-of-life solutions.
While the research provides valuable guidance on potential investment and policy priorities, the authors stress that further work is needed. They recommend deeper technical testing of mycelium-based materials, alongside detailed evaluations of environmental, economic and social impacts, before moving to pilot projects or commercial-scale production.
