Paper pen, bioasphalt, water activated bio shampoo, lignin self-healing elastomer, bio crop coating, and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of July 10th

#4 Mexican students win grant for mushroom-based packaging

In Mexico, a group of students at ITESO University has been awarded a small business grant by FedEx Mexico for a packaging substitute made from mushrooms.

PAPEL, Laboratorio de Ideas beat out over 1,000 competitors to win 475,000 pesos (US $24,700).

“Our substitute is based on a process with no carbon footprint,” the team tells Mexico News Daily. “On top of that, it’s 100% biodegradable and useful as compost. We hope it will become an ecological alternative to Styrofoam for packaging and will help reduce global warming.”

The team hopes its substitute can replace the 32,000 metric tons of expandable polystyrene currently used in Mexico annually.
More on the story, here.